In Close Quarters
by tea-induced scribbles
Summary: A series of unfortunate events and an I.O.U. got Kate a ticket on the Nathan James. With Commander Mike Slattery as the XO, it's definitely the last place she wanted be. But she told herself it would be four months... How hard could it be? This is an AUish OC story with M rating for coarse language, violence, dark themes etc. :-)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is my first story so just some disclaimers... I do not own anything but my OC characters. The rest is owned by people with more money than I shall ever have. Also all my information regarding medical, military and helicopter stuff in this story is derived from either the internet or my over active imagination... So realise that at least 89% all of it is incorrect or physically impossible. Also the timeline will be a skewed from the show's all I ask for the sake of the story that you let it slide and be kind to me.. :-D_

_Please Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Yeah well, I hate you with every fibre of my being right now" Kate said on her company owned iphone to her brother in law and current boss for the past year. She pulled her rucksack out of the back of the Jeep and slung it over her shoulder.

"Thank you for the escort" Kate said to the soldier as Evan continued to talk to her. The soldier gave a nod and drove away. Kate turned her attention the large ship in dock and listening to her Evan talk with glee as he enjoyed her misery. He acted like the big brother she never wanted but was glad to have ever since her husband Jack had died in a tragic motorcycle accident a year and half ago.

Kate had served her country faithfully for 12 years as Helicopter Pilot in the Australian Defence Force before she decided to retire 3 years ago and get married to Jack. Do the whole nine yards of a house, the white picket fence and 2 kids with the dog etc but a year into it and well Jack died and so did the dream. Kate had been a wreck and Evan did what he did best take over and make everything happen.

It was his gift, it's how he owned and ran a hugely successful industrial company that developed… well Kate had no clue nor did she try to understand. The man just had too much money and enjoyed the fact that he fooled her into signing a contract to work with him based on an I.O.U. she wrote while drunk 3 years ago when he managed to single handedly saved her wedding from disaster.

A year after Jack's death, Evan had wanted her to get a green card and step into Jack's shoes at the company but she refused. So he turned into a cold hearted asshole (or so she interpreted his actions) and blindly signed an iron clad 3 year contract without reading it because she just wanted to be left alone. In hindsight it was one of the best things he had ever done for her. It got her into the private sector working as a civilian contractor for the Military. She was able to fly Helicopters again and she was working which helped her move forward. The downside was Evan treated her more like a little sister than an employee which meant he meddled in life and forever reminded her how simple it had been to coerce her into working for him with an I.O.U., he had the thing framed and on his desk while she had a photocopy of it folded up in her wallet.

_"Ah you love me and I don't see why you keep complaining about being on ships especially when you get to fly_" Evan said, she could hear his smug grin over the phone. The man owned a multimillion dollar corporation where his time was about a few grand a minute... he told her the number once and it sounded obscene and here he was wasting his time and money yabbering at her.

"You're not giving me this gig. The pilot that was supposed to do the job got hit by a car. I'm your back up" Kate grumbled, she had the photocopy of yellow post it note I.O.U. in her wallet to remind herself not to be fooled like that again. Phillip Chen was supposed to be on this project but he had been hit by a car J-walking yesterday and was not fit to fly hence why Kate was stepping in for the guy.

_"Did I mention there's huge bonus in it for you when you're finished? It's only fair because you're saving me from paying huge penalties for being late-"_

"You know I hate ships, I hate sailing, you knew this because I told you when I signed the contract. I don't do ships or anything that floats on water" she said into the phone. Yet he had his assistant send over a bag with Jacket and thermals for subzero temperatures. All in her size, it was just creepy that his assistant knew her dress size.

It came with a note saying 'Good Luck in the Arctic'. Sometimes she felt like she was just the part of his life that he could just stir and mess around with for his amusement. She had immediately called him that night when he informed her he was taking her off her current project and sending her to finish up another to substitute for another Pilot on a time critical project.

_"You should have asked for an addendum to have been made before you signed on. Oh yeah you didn't read the contract, you just signed it"_ he chuckled "_Anyway sailing is much like flying but on the water. Just think of every roll and dump as turbulence"_ Evan said, the bastard was enjoying her being uncomfortable.

"It's a destroyer not a Yacht" Kate told him as she looked at the destroyer, people were coming going from the areas it was getting ready to leave port in less than an hour. She frowned as a voice shouted nearby, that sounded achingly familiar. She lowered her aviators and looked to the gangway to the ship to see Mike Slattery in dress whites shouting orders. She quickly turned her back to the gangway as if it would make her invisible.

"This is the Nathan James" Kate stated, it was like some cosmic joke that she had to endured 4 months trapped on a ship with Mike Slattery. The only other man she'd known who she had ever loved enough to change her life for besides Jack. Like she needed a painful reminder of someone else she lost and he was alive which didn't make her very happy right now.

_"Yes, that is the ship we just finished retrofitting and is scheduled to leave at 1pm, your time. I told you the name last night when you called me to tell me that you hated the colour green and to stop buying you clothes. You're the only woman I know who complains about getting free things"_ Evan said casually.

"No you didn't, I would have remembered and we've talked about this before it's creepy when you buy me clothes" Kate said, she definitely would have considered leaving but knew she owed Evan and it was four months.

"Yes, I told you it was the Nathan James and don't flatter yourself, I'd never go shopping for you that's what I have an assistant for. Now get on the Destroyer, enjoy your trip, I want daily log and I'll speak to you in four months" Evan told her before she could even argue with him the man hung up on her. Kate gritted her teeth and even though she was sorely tempted to through the iPhone in the water, she didn't and put in her back pocket.

She took a deep breath and walked to the man with the clipboard who had just let a group of marines and a dog through. When she got closer she saw he was the Master Chief. He was strong looking, confident and tall African American man who gave her a cool and analytical once over before he spoke.

"Are you lost Ma'am?" He asked in a polite yet curt manner.

"No, I'm Cap-" Kate stopped to corrected herself. She was still getting used to not saying her rank. Being a retired from the military was not an easy adjustment after 10 years of service. "I'm Kathryn Lassiter, civilian contractor for the Lassiter Industries. I'm subbing for Phillip Chen" she said as she pulled her ID out of her jacket pocket of her burgundy leather bomber jacket and held it out to him. The Master Chief too the I.D. and scrutinized it for a moment before he through his clipboard.

"Kathyrn Lassiter" he said ticking her name off the list and holding out her ID to her. Kate frowned as she was supposed to be a last minute change. She was expecting a problem with getting on board. She took back her ID. He looked up from the clip board to her.

"Welcome aboard the Nathan James, your quarters are-" he told her the location of where she would be sleeping and Kate nodded. "Will you require assistance to your quarters?" he asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you Master Chief" She said, the man gave her a nod before stepping to side to let her pass. She took a deep breath and walked towards the gang way.

* * *

"I'm not too happy about this Rep we're going to be babysitting in addition to Dr Scott and Dr Tophet" Lt Commander Mike Slattery said, he couldn't wait to get out for the next four months to go by so he could get back to his family and try to fix things with Christina. Give her what she wanted which was his presence apparently which was confusing because when he was away she would complain he wasn't there and when he was home it was that he wasn't 'here'. He wasn't sure what that meant as he was there literally. He came home and he spent as much time as he could with her and the kids bit it never seemed to be enough.

So when they docked a few weeks ago, he was expecting at least 4 months on dry land at least while the ship's weaponry systems got upgraded. He was looking forward and had been enjoying the dedicated family time, time spent with his kids. He didn't enjoy Christina's attitude or the fights she was picking with him but he took the good with the bad and when Tom called him to inform him they had been recalled to duty. Well, shit hit the fan with Christina.

He knew there would be some catch to getting top of the line weaponry systems installed into the Nathan James but this one seemed rather left of field as Mike didn't know why a simple weapons test couldn't wait a little longer. But apparently it couldn't and as it was becoming habit, Mike had to leave things unfinished and mess with Christina. He hated leaving things rocky between them, he hated leaving in the middle of an argument but Christina like he was stubborn to the bone. He had wanted to leave on a good note with her but failed miserably. The only consolation was that he got to spend time with his kids. The one highlight of his shore leave was catching up with them.

Instead they had been called back to duty a week early which had only put further strain on the home situation. So right now, hearing that the Nathan James was going to have some useless twit who sit in CIC staring dumb at the screen watching them blow up decoys made him feel just added fuel to his bad mood.

"I know but-" Captain Tom Chandler started to tell Mike about the rep would be on board for 4 months and to play nice because Mike didn't have a lot patience for civilian contractors. "Come in" Tom said. The door swung open and the woman Tom wanted to warn Mike about came into the room.

Mike turned and looked at her in shock. Kathryn 'Kate' Gentry the last woman he had ever wanted to see again was standing at the door to the Captain's office. It had been 4 years, 35 days and 18 hours since he last saw her and for someone like him to know that, to be counting that number in his head made him angry. He was married, had three kids he loved to the very core of his being. Yet this woman had gotten herself so thoroughly under his skin it drove him mad because he wanted and tried to forget her on and off for years without success and here she was. Physically here on the Nathan James, it was just making his day that more crappier than it was before.

She was nearly as he remembered her as he looked her over. She stood 5 ft 8, wore black skinny jeans, scuffed up black combat boots with a white pocket t-shirt and a burgundy leather motorcycle jacket. Her red hair was messily swept back into a low bun though she looked skinnier and more fried than he remembered. He vainly tried to squash the concern he was feeling for her welfare but failed miserably so went for the next best tactic to take.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Mike demanded, the best tactic was to be an asshole so she would know she wasn't welcome. Even though he wanted to ask what was wrong with her. If he kept her at arm's length, if he didn't get to know her again then he could pretend that chapter of his life was completely closed and forget about it.

"Gee it's great to see you too Mike." Kate said in a mocking yet friendly manner as she closed the door to the office behind her. If they were going to shout at her then it would be behind closed doors. She gave them a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"We're supposed to have a Kathryn Lassiter on board" Mike said looking to Tom who gave him a look that said he had no idea. It was bad form for them not to know who was coming and going on their ship.

"Obviously I got married" Kate told them, it stung Mike to hear she settled down but when he looked to her left hand he saw the ring. He mentally slapped himself for not noticing it. "Would you like to see my I.D.?" She asked them in dry tone. She didn't seem to be too happy in seeing them either.

"No, I'm sure the Master Chief checked you in and that's good enough for me" Tom said feeling the awkward tension in the room. Kate visibly relaxed at his acceptance of her identity. "I have to say this is a surprise. I thought you were still serving in the ADF" he said using the acronym for Australian Defence Forces.

"I retired and Evan Harris gave me an offer I couldn't refuse" Kate said casually as it was the truth.

"Good for you, though I don't know why you're here" Mike said, he wondered if she heard he was the XO and was here to just make the one place in his life turn to hell but then again after three years of no contact it seemed odd. Kate pursed her lips for a moment as if choosing her words carefully before she spoke.

"I'm here because Lassiter Industries holds a multimillion dollar contract with your government and the Navy to service and upgrade the fleet. Part of that contract is that the company I work for is legally obligated to have a representative on board for a period of 120 days to observe that all requirements of the contract have been met i.e. the upgrades are functioning at optimal standards. We also have to fulfil said requirements to your schedule not ours. Hence why I am here and not in Maui collecting freckles and Mai Tais" Kate said annoyed at Mike's less than stellar attitude. If the less the warm welcome was anything to go by, the next four months were not going to fun.

"So you're going to stand around, look pretty-" Mike started and Kate wondered why he was being such an asshole.

"That I can do naturally but no, I will be a somewhat productive member of the crew" Kate said in a droll tone.

"Kate is also our Helo Pilot" Tom said as he knew Mike was picking a fight with Kate for what reason he didn't know. He really hoped he wouldn't have to spend the next four months diffusing the two before it got messy. Hell he was just an observer and he felt like he had stepped in it.

"Look the Navy believes that everyone on the ship should serve a purpose. The Navy gave Lassiter group a special dispensation for our company pilots to fly considering it's not the Helo that has to jump through the hoops. Don't worry I've been informed that my duties will be to ferry Dr Scott and her colleague around and also engaging in training exercises with your crew. Its 120 days, I'm sure we can be civil to one another and do our jobs" Kate said.

"Of course, we can-" Tom stopped mid sentence as the phone rang, he stepped back to the deck and picked up the receiver."Chandler" he said.

Kate looked to Mike, noting that he looked exactly the same except for maybe a few more grey hairs. It didn't affect her memory recall and damn if she didn't feel that pull of attraction between them. Little over 4 years and one marriage should have killed any emotion or physical attachment she had to him but right now it felt like it slowly coming back to life.

"How's the Family?" She asked Mike, needing to fill the space and squash that revival of old feelings. Hence the question she needed to remind herself that he was with his wife and family making him completely off limits. Not to mention over four years ago he decided end their relationship and go back to his wife and try for his marriage again. She knew the biggest part of his decision was his kids. Kids always came first in any relationship. Anyway she had been truly fine with the decision even if it hurt like hell when he said it was over and left her. The stupid part was that she knew going in the relationship had an expiry date but it didn't stop her from stupidly falling in love with man. So right now she needed to remember all that and focus on why she was here. Her job.

"Good, how's your husband?" he asked there was a slightly snide note when he asked about her husband.

"Dead" She said bluntly. Mike looked taken back by her blunt answer as he hadn't expected her to say her husband was dead. At least he had the sense to look a little remorseful for being snide but before he could say anything Tom interrupted them.

"Admiral Foster would like to speak with you." he said to Kate, she nodded and stepped forward taking the phone from him but wondering what the hell an Admiral wanted to talk to her about.

"Hello" she said into the phone.

"We going to have a problem?" Tom asked in a low tone to Mike as Kate's back was turned to them as she spoke on the phone. Mike was unable to tear his eyes off her as her posture was rigid and she gave clear 'Yes, Sir' and 'Of course, Sir' answers.

"Not at all, I'm just peachy about all of this" Mike said through gritted teeth. Tom knew about the relationship between him and Kate. Not all the dirty details, but enough to know they had been intimate on and off for awhile when they were stationed overseas. Sure he could say that it wasn't cheating as Christina and he were separated at the time. There were a million excuses he could use but he wasn't going to make them. He owned his mistakes and learned from them.

The only mistake Kate was that she had made him realise how miserable he was with Christina, but also that he loved his wife and he just wasn't ready to give up on their marriage and break up their family. Sure he and Kate had something but she was Australian and career military one of them would have had to give up their career to give their relationship a serious go.

"I didn't know it was her and I'd kick her off but the Admiral told me to play nice with her or she'll take our new toys away." Tom said with a touch of humour but it was lost on Mike.

"Well I'm sure it'll be fine, just four months. How bad could it be?" Mike asked rhetorically.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

4 months later,

Kate was on top of the world—literally. The weapons systems Harris had designed were fully operational and performing beautifully which meant she hadn't had do anything but fly the Helo as Evan promised and write reports. All easily done, now the four months was over she was glad as she was ready to go home.

4 months on the Nathan James was not easy for her. But at least she got fly, Kate grinned at the clear blue skies, as she flew over the desolate land. They had just dropped off the decoy target and watched it explode. Another successful test. Now it was time to head back to the ship.

As they passed over the desolate landscape, Kate took in the view. She thought after 4 months she would be bored of it but she wasn't. She tightened her grip on the chopper's joystick and leaned forward in the cockpit, drawn in by the Helo's panoramic windows and the spectacular view below. There was no doubt about it. Every time they went up she felt like she was in heaven. Flying was her true passion and every time she went up, it reminded her of the good times.

"Takes your breath away, doesn't it?" Kate said to her co pilot Lt Grodin, she had been flying with him for four months. He was the Admiral's stepson, the man had told Kate that his stepson was fresh out of flight school and needed 'further training' that from her military jacket he was sure the kid could learn a thing or two from her. There was a rather vague derogatory compliment thrown in about her nationality and being a good ally even if she was ex-army but Kate let it slide as she was not in the business of ruffling feathers especially an Admiral's feathers.

After four months sharing the Helo with the kid earned his nickname as he needed to learn to less of a pain in her ass, get some impulse control and patience but hey what would she know. How he passed flight school was beyond her but then he had an Admiral for a stepfather. So obviously the kid had passed by the skin of his teeth because here he was in the cockpit as her co-pilot sulking because he wanted to be pilot. When he was a pilot he was passable as long as the weather was reasonable and there was no wind. So yeah he needed a lot of 'further training'.

Sure Kate could complain about the kid until Tom and Mike's ears bled but what was the point? They wouldn't believe her because Grodin was a professional in front of them and the other officers and on comms. She would also be gone, then Grodin would become someone else's problem. So she put up with it because she wasn't one to ruffle feather when she was on the James for a short length of time. Also his insolent behaviour was only in the Helo when it was just her, Crew Chief Sergeant Lange in the back, there was no real evidence that Grodin sulked like a 13 year old girl who been told she couldn't go to a One Direction concert to use as evidence.

"Yeah, it's great if you like sub zero temperatures and desolate surroundings" Grodin said sarcastically. Kate looked over her shoulder at her Crew Chief Sergeant Lang to see keeping his head down but a grin on his face. The man was a seasoned operator like herself and he had a kid who was still cute and lovable. It hadn't sunk in that one day he'd return from deployment and have a mini version of himself with Grodin's attitude problems.

Kate was about reply to Grodin's comment when orders came through from CIC to pick up Dr Scott and her team as temperatures were dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. "Copy that" she said, acknowledging the order, she looked to Grodin who nodded turning his gaze to the map he'd been using to supplement the Helo's malfunctioning global positioning system for the last thirty minutes.

At least the kid was all business when the orders came in from Tom_. Kiss ass…_ Kate thought as Grodin gave the directions to the coordinates they had dropped the Doctor and her team earlier that day. After a few minutes he glanced up again and pointed dead ahead. "Keep it steady. The drop zone is just over that ridge." Grodin told her.

Another two minutes later they were there.

Kate nudged her stick and swooped the Helo down into marked clearing. Even before she felt the gentle thump as the bird touched down into the snow, two marines in snow BDU's and snow skis stood to the side with Dr Scott and Doctor Tophet came towards the Helo. Kate relayed their status to the ship over the comm. While the group bustled into the back, once Grodin gave her the thumbs up to say everyone was in. She pulled on the stick and the Helo rose from the ground.

"Lassiter, what am I being summoned for now?" Rachel asked as soon as she put on her head set. Kate smiled. She bunked with the woman for four months.

The woman was not chatty, if anything Dr Scott was entirely wrapped up in her work. The only time they had a conversation was when they argued over who would have the bottom bunk. Rachel won out as the woman was always coming and going from their shared quarters a lot more than Kate was. That and Kate just couldn't be bothered arguing more than 5 minutes about a bed.

"Temperatures are dropping fast. We had to pick you up before it got too cold for the Helo to operate" Kate informed her. It wasn't the first time they had had this talk and Rachel was always put out whenever her field excursions were cut short. So Kate didn't take it personally.

"Just Fantastic" Rachel's voice grumbled in Kate's ears.

"ETA is 15 minutes people, so sit back and relax" Kate said over the comm.

* * *

After a quick hot shower, Kate changed out of her flight suit into her skinny jeans and a warm grey jumper with a cowl neck and her boots. She went to the wardroom for dinner, glad that she was late as the wardroom was empty bar the crewmen who was in charge of refreshing the food and the room. She plied her tray with food and then sat down at a table and picked up the bottle of ketchup and proceeded to smother the deep fried crumbed meat of unknown origins with it along with her rice and peas.

"Leave some ketchup for the rest of us" Mike said as he came into the ward room and went straight for the coffee. He had meant to just get his cup of coffee and leave quietly but there was something about Kate that just goaded him to push her buttons. Maybe it was that she had an air of defeat around her that pissed him or maybe the fact that after four years she seemed entirely unaffected being in his presence. He didn't know which thought was worse but both thoughts pissed him off more.

"And a good evening to you, Commander Slattery" Kate said in a dry unwelcoming tone, she was tempted to empty the bottle of ketchup onto her tray just to spite him but decided against it as there was such a thing as too much ketchup. She put the bottle back into the rack holder on the table and picked up her fork mashing up the meat, rice, peas and ketchup together into a indistinguishable mess.

"Another successful test and the end of the mission" he said in a smug if somewhat aggressive manner. It was his usual manner with her which is why Kate avoided him as much as possible. But they still encountered one another, she knew she should call him up on his behaviour but she couldn't be bother ruffling feathers so she did her best to ignore his baiting and scathing remarks. He had a true gift at making her feeling 5ft tall and not the sexy kind. She wished he would return the damn gift and give her break.

"I had no doubt in your crew's ability to perform, it's the technology and now we've successfully completed the exercises. It's over and once we are back in Norfolk. You'll never see me again" Kate assured him, hoping he would just take his damn coffee and go away as he was making it really hard for her to maintain her professionalism as she really wanted to deck him. So she reminded herself in a few days she would be free to go back to hiding from having a real life.

"Good, I have to say I'm looking forward to it" He told her before he stalked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"That's something we can agree on" Kate muttered under breath.

* * *

Two days later,

"I'm over this" Kate said, her good mood had completely evaporated when she was told the mission had been extended for an 'unknown' period of time. So today due to the low temperatures, Kate decided they'd take the scenic route to go pick up Dr Scott and her entourage.

She took yet another wide circle with the Helo, they had experienced some minor control issues due to the frosty wind. She was tempted to ground the Helo but knew once the engines stopped there was a good chance they wouldn't start again. So not wanting that to happen she kept flying in the hope the frosty wind would die down.

"Three days ago it was all 'isn't this breathtaking' and smiles. What's up?" Lange asked in an amused tone.

"I'm ready to go home" Kate complained she was pretty sure she sounded like Grodin who was unusually quiet today.

"The temperature has dropped another degree" Lange informed her.

"Grodin call the guys, get them to light a fire under the Doctor's ass otherwise I'm going to take us back to the James."

"Copy that" Grodin said, he switched out of their comm. line to make the call.

"And Lange, that was two days ago. I was on a high from the last training mission being a success. Now my job is finished, reports are written, weapons system upgrades are working perfectly. I want to go home and have a steak that costs more than $20 followed by a long hot bath with a glass of red wine and a good book" Kate said.

"Well you're stuck here like the rest of us. So your fancy steak will have to wait" Lange said.

"Why did they give a mission extension? Is there something I missed cause I'm not a member of the Navy Family?" Kate asked.

"I'm in the dark like you. But if I were to speculate. I'd say it may have something to do Dr Scott, as we aren't doing anything except waiting for her." Lange offered. Kate nodded as she wondered why she didn't think of it herself.

"Helo one please be advised that we have unidentified aircraft incoming.-" the man on the other end gave her co-ordinates and trajectory of the aircraft. Kate looked around and spotted two black helicopters flanked by three slightly larger heavily armed Helicopters doing in the direction of where Dr Scott and the others were.

"Shit" Grodin said as one of the helicopters nose dived into the ground and exploded. Two of the Helicopters peeled away and headed to the ship while one headed their direction the other swooped around the ground party. The armed Helicopter that stayed behind came straight at them. It quickly ate up the distance and started firing upon them.

"Evasive manoeuvres" Grodin shouted as if saying it out loud would make their Helo move faster.

"What do you think I'm doing" Kate said as the heavy round bullet shot straight through the plexi-glass of pilot window splintering the window and spraying shards of sharp glass at her as it travelled through the cockpit and out the other window. It was immediately followed but a couple more metal pings as the Helo was hit a couple more times as she lifted the Helo up and took another wide turn to get out of the enemy's firing range.

"We have incoming missile" Lange said as the proximity alarm sounded, Kate looked out the side window but and saw the missile heading straight for them.

"Damn, hold tight" Kate said she banked the Helo to the right, She set to evasive manoeuvres. There wasn't much else she could do. An explosion sounded ad the missile missed and exploded into the mountain nearby.

"More incoming" Lange told her.

"Shit! I can't see it. Where is it?" Kate said as she kept doing evasive manoeuvres vainly hoping they would not get blown out of the sky. Kate immediately dropped the Helo low to the ground inside a large valley of ice.

"Any lower and you'll hit ground!" Grodin said stating the obvious as they cruised straight ahead.

"It's behind us, closing in fast" Lange told her.

"Helos aren't made for the kind of manoeuvre you're thinking" Grodin said as it looked like Kate was going to crash them in to high ridge that surrounded the valley.

"The enemy has peeled away" Lange said as if it was important to know.

"We're going to crash if you don't pull up!" Grodin shouted at her.

"Just the fuck shut up" Kate shouted back. She pulled on the stick hard pulling the nose of the Helo up and swerving the Helo in a high angle turn. Everything; the angle of the turn, the proximity of the ridge was wrong but it was too late to berate her skills now as she committed to the turn.

The Helo's computers screamed at her in petulant beeps as the engines were stressing out and the proximity alarms went off. The Comm line was drowning her thoughts out as the James kept giving them updates on the situation and demanded a response in the return. It was like everything slow down as the ridge cleared out of the windscreen just as an explosion of fire engulfed the front window for a moment as the missile hit the ridge and not the Helo. But there was no time to celebrate as Kate continued forward and up. Disorientated by the flash of the fire for a moment Kate believed she cleared the ridge and dipped the nose to level out only to be mistaken as Helo bounced. Kate cursed again as she lifted the nose again and once she was sure they were well above the ridge she levelled out.

Kate's heart pounded a million miles an hour and she was about ready to puke in relief as the James informed them all hostiles were taken care of and they were quickly given new orders to pick up wounded. Kate acknowledged the orders and changed course to the coordinates given to her.

"Damage report" Kate said as it was a little overdue given the circumstances. Cold air blasted in her face from the broken window.

"Looks like superficial damage, we got lucky" Lange told her.

"No shit" Kate said giving a weak laugh as she looked over at Grodin. The young man was deathly pale and frankly he looked like he was going to be sick. She just hoped he kept it together until they got back to the ship.

* * *

An hour later,

"_Touch down_" Kate heard over her comm. Two words she never so happy in her life to hear.

"Ok, let's do this. Post flight check and then damage assessment" Kate said, she shut down the engines and started flicking switches. The deck filled with medics and deck crew swamping the Helo in a flurry of activity as the passengers disembarked. "Close call on that bullet aye Grodin" Kate said as she poked her glove finger through the hole in the window, when Grodin didn't say anything she looked over at him.

"Grodin?" Kate prompted as the kid had already wrenched off his helmet and was breathing erratically as he undid his straps and pushed out of the cockpit exiting the Helo without a word. She was surprised at how fast he had bailed on them.

Kate turned around to Lange who looked as confused as she was. She undid her straps, pulled off her helmet. "Can you see him?" she asked loudly over the cacophony of noise. Lange got up from his place and moved to the open side door for a moment before moving to crouch behind the back of her seat.

"Ah yeah, he's puking up his guts" Lange replied casually.

"Great, at least he had the decency to wait until we landed" Kate said with a wry smile.

"Hey you got some blood" Lange said gesturing to her left side of her chin.

"I do? " Kate said, she pulled off her glove and touched her face when she drew her fingers back she was surprised to see blood. It didn't hurt but then her face was so cold she could barely feel herself speaking. "How bad?" she asked. Lange leaned in to take a closer look.

"Looks superficial but-" he started only be cut off as Mike interrupted hi,.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Mike asked though it sounded more like a demand than him asking out of concern as his wore a hard and slightly angry expression when he looked at her.

"Fine" Kate said as she touched her chin, she was pretty sure she was spreading the blood around than actually taking it off.

"Yes, Sir. It was a close shave but Lassiter handled it well." Lange said singing her praises.

"You need a medic Lassiter" Mike told her.

"I'm not wasting the doc's time with a scratch" she told him. Mike knew better than to push Kate because right now he still needed her to go pick up the stragglers and she looked in complete control of her faculties.

"Ok, once the flight deck is clear I want the marines and the gear back on ship A.S.A.P" He told them.

"Aye, Aye" Kate said with a mock salute. Mike narrowed his eyes not appreciating her sass and turned away for just a moment to leave but then turned back.

"Where's Grodin?" Mike asked them.

"He'll be back in a minute, just had to get a medic look at him" Lange said with a shrug as if not to make a big deal out it. Mike's bullshit detector rang loud and clear in his head when Kate added quickly.

"We'll work fast to get everything stowed away. By the way what is going on out there?" Kate said to Mike, no need to embarrass Grodin just because he lost his lunch in his first real experience of combat. Hell, someone else could get him in trouble. Mike knew they were covering for Grodin, she could tell from his expression as it grew dark.

"You'll know when everybody else knows" he told her in a cold tone locking eyes with her. She wondered how many people broke under his hard gaze.

"Alright, well we will get everything squared away as quickly as possible" Kate told him. He narrowed his eyes slightly for just a moment before pushing away from the Helo and stalking away giving orders to those around him to clear the deck.

"What's his problem with you?" Lange asked. Kate gave a shrug.

"I may have said something discouraging about the Cubs. You know how you boys get your grundies in a twist about sport" Kate told him. Lange rolled his eyes.

"Ok, don't tell me the truth and here" he said handing her a clean handkerchief that he had doused with water "Clean the blood off your face. It's not an attractive look" he told her. Kate flipped him the one finger salute as she took the handkerchief and blindly wiped her face.

"Sorry guys" Grodin said as he reappeared.

"You ok?" Kate asked him, feeling genuinely concerned as it was the kid's first time at seeing action. She pocked the dirty handkerchief and settled back into her seat. She strapped herself into her chair.

"Yeah" Grodin said with a nod that it contradicted his current demeanour.

"Good, get strapped in, we have to go get the others" Kate said to him.

"Look, don't feel so bad. Everyone loses their lunch after the first time" Lange said to him.

"Yeah and that manoeuvre I pulled is not something to admire. 99% of the time we would have died in a fiery and painful manner" Kate said half teasingly as she pulled her helmet back on.

"You're really bad at pep talks" Grodin said as he strapped himself back into his chair.

"I didn't realise I was giving a pep talk" Kate said as she powered up the engines again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

A few hours later, everything on the ship had settled from the earlier events but the atmosphere was fraught as everyone was wondering what the hell was going on. Why were they attacked by the Russians?

Kate feeling very much in the dark with everyone else focussed on her duties which was cleaning and assessing the Helo's exterior for damage from the attack, the subsequent explosion and her slight 'kiss' of the ridge. They had been lucky that the only damage to the human factor involved was a couple small knicks to her face and Grodin's ego since news had travelled far and wide about him herfing his guts over the railing of the ship. So when the crewman had come for her with orders to escort her to the Captain's office, Kate was a little curious as to why as it wasn't like they didn't know what happened.

She also wished she had been given time to have a shower or at least change out of her overalls as she was covered in soot, grease and sweat from checking over every part of the Helo to make sure nothing was damaged. So she was definitely not smelling like a garden rose.

When they got there and the crewman knocked on the door. The door the Captain's office swung open and Mike glared down at her. It was rather impressive as he did that look, the gift she wished he would return. His eyes roved her 'grease monkey' look. He looked to the crewman.

"Dismissed" he said, the man nodded and practically ran away in fear. Kate didn't blame him considering when Mike was angry he could be a bit like the incredible hulk. One just kept waiting for him to turn green and start destroying the place but luckily he never progressed to that level of anger. Yet. He moved out of the way and Kate stepped into the office.

"Before you start, the damage to the Helo is cosmetic. Once we get back to a base they can replace the windows and buff out the damage. She'll be good as new" Kate said because she was hoping it would diffuse the tension in the room. Tom who had had his back to her when she came in turned around to face her.

"I don't care about that. Now sit your ass down" Tom ordered her in a stern tone as soon as Mike closed the door. He gestured to a chair in front of two screens. Kate reared back slightly as pure hostility and testosterone rolled off the two men at her. It made her wondered what she did to deserve it.

"Ok" Kate said, she took a seat as the two men glared down at her for a long moment making her feel a little uncomfortable. In that moment she remembered the Monty Python joke 'No one ever expects a Spanish inquisition' and felt the inappropriate urge to laugh. But she didn't instead she pushed the rolled sleeves of her overalls to her elbows and folded her arms in a defensive manner. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Did you know?" Tom asked her. Kate quirked an eyebrow at the question as she felt like she was missing something very important here especially since they looked like they were ready kill someone.

"Know what?" she asked carefully as she wondered why she was suddenly feeling guilty when she had nothing to be guilty about.

"This" He moved behind her chair and pushed it in front of the screen and turned it on. Kate watched and listened to several news pieces about a pandemic sweeping across the globe and the world turning hell in hand basket with bodies piling up, Governments gone quiet as their countries destabilised, civil unrest, cities burning, and martial law being ineffective to quell the rioters. Kate watched the screen keeping a neutral face because she truly didn't know how to react to what was happening.

After she watched several news feeds Tom switched off the screens and pulled her chair back before the two men stood in front of her again. She already tagged Tom as the 'good cop' and Mike as 'Bad cop' as he had finely crafted his persona for the last four months that if he started being like the Mike she remembered she would probably pass out from the whip lash.

"Did you know?" Tom asked her repeating his earlier question.

"About a pandemic and the world going ape shit? Ah no" Kate said, she wondered what he was accusing her of.

"Did you know about Dr Scott's true mission here?" he asked, Kate's eyebrows rose this time.

"What mission? She's doing a study on birds" Kate said stating what she knew to be true but it looked like the men didn't believe her. "Seriously, what the hell do you think I know?" she asked definitely feeling persecuted.

"That you knew Dr Scott's true purpose for being here. That she came here to find the primordial strain of this virus to make a vaccine. It was the whole point of this excursion. The weapons test was a you were brought in to perpetrate the illusion" Tom informed her, Kate shook her head.

"Yes, because I watched two seasons of ReGenesis in preparation for this assignment and that just made me more qualified than all the other Helo pilots in Evan's pocket qualified to comprehend Dr Scott's research and be able to assess her progress. When she is closed I will then rely the information back to headquarters via morse code because I'm that brilliant. All because Lassiter Industries wants to hold the market on the vaccine to make up for the profit loss this year when the pandemic erupted and be touted the heroes of the planet" Kate said in a patronising tone.

She rolled her eyes and Mike wanted to strangle her because this was serious and she was mocking them. All the times he gave her jibes and she let it roll off her back only to now bite back at them. He had to admit it was good to see she hadn't lost the fire in her, he'd forgotten how feisty she was and how attractive her sarcasm could be but now it wasn't appropriate.

"Kate" Mike growled. She narrowed her eyes at him and tightened her arms which were folded across her chest as if to make herself smaller. She was in complete defensive mode, a state that made it hard to get answers from a person.

"Look I swear to you, I didn't know anything about this." Kate told them.

"Yeah?" Mike asked questioning her honesty as she didn't look scared, or entirely shocked but then who knew what happened to her the past four years. He did know one thing she was much better at concealing her emotions.

"Yes, contrary to what you want to believe. I had no idea about this. My reason for being here was legitimate. I was in the dark as much as you both were. I didn't retire from the army to get involved in another war. So why don't you tell me why the Russians were attacking us" Kate said insulted that they would think she would be apart a large subterfuge as Dr Scott had just played them. She wanted to go home. She wanted to kick her Evan Harris's ass for manipulating her into this with an I.O.U. She wondered if the man even knew but what did it matter now? He was probably dead but if he was alive, she was going to kick his ass.

Tom seemed to believe her as he gave a sigh and backed away from her. Mike wasn't going to let her off so easily though as he stayed in his spot and glared down at her. It was like a compulsion for him to just push her.

"Russia doesn't have a functioning government. We were attacked by a rogue force." Tom told her, Kate cursed under her breath.

"That means there will be more rogue forces out there between here and America" Kate said stating the obvious.

"Thank you, we hadn't-" Mike started but Kate cut him off.

"I'm not patronising you, I'm just trying to get my head around all the information you two have laid on me. What are you planning to do?" Kate asked Tom feeling at a loss of how to deal with this situation or even how much control she had.

"Now, you get to hear what I'm going to tell the crew in half an hour. So when you leave here I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything" Tom told her, Kate gave a nod understanding that the Captain had the right to privacy and to when hand whom he distributed information to.

"Of course, I'll keep my mouth shut. This is your ship" she said. Tom nodded.

"The current President wants us to escort Dr Scott to a lab in the States. But first we need to refuel in France before crossing the Atlantic. I'm also giving everyone a chance call home. You can use my office phone" Tom said to her. Kate looked at him and she heard his words but she wondered where she fit into all their plans. She was an Australian citizen working for an American Company on an American Military vessel.

"I'm going to be selfish here but I was thinking more about myself. I'm not a member of your military or country which right now is making me feel a little uncomfortable about where I stand in all this" Kate said being brutally honest. Mike turned away from them and walked behind her. She had no idea what his problem was and right now didn't care. Tom gave her a wry smile.

"To be honest you're a little low on my list of priorities right now. I don't have the fuel or time to take you back to Australia let alone chase down an Australian frigate that can get you to your home" Tom told her in a serious but patronising manner. Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes as that wasn't what she asked.

"I wasn't asking for a lift back to Sydney, I was asking if you're planning to boot me off your ship at the first rock you see or keeping me onboard" Kate told him bluntly. He looked genuinely surprised at her words and even gave a faint smile.

"You can be rest assured that I'm not going to boot you off my ship. Unless you give me a good reason because right now I still in need a seasoned pilot like you" Tom told her as if it was supposed to assure her but really it didn't because all it took was for them to find another pilot with her resume or better for her to be ousted.

"Right" she said in a tight manner as it wasn't exactly a warm welcome to stay nor a brusque go away. "Ok, Fair enough. I think I would like to try and make that phone call" Kate said to Tom as she just assumed the 'meeting' was over.

"Of course" Tom said.

* * *

Hours later,

"Tea?" Kate asked Rachel as the woman came into the wardroom. Rachel looked exhausted but then after the day they had who wouldn't. Kate had gone back to the Helo bay and looked at the damage wondering how she was going to fix it on the fly or if she should wait and see what was left of American government and Military when the Nathan James made port. So feeling still at a loss to what to do she got cleaned up and went to the wardroom to for a cup of tea. She just hoped Rachel's day was more productive than hers.

"Please" she said. Kate nodded and poured two cups of hot water, leaving one mug for Rachel to sort herself out as Kate dunked a tea bag into her own it was the strength she wanted and disposed of the bag. Silence filled the room and it felt awkward and somewhat painful as Rachel looked at her warily.

"Did you get through to your family?" Rachel asked breaking the silence first. She had been working for hours with Quincy and this was her first break. She was never one to socialise but right now she felt like talking about anything but her work.

She couldn't help but feel the silent animosity roll off the crew at her for her secrecy. But she understood it, she was the reason they were here in a seemingly impossible situation. Her bunkmate of four months cleared her throat and nodded as they moved to the table.

"Yes, my brother in law slash boss. He's in a safe zone near Colorado" Kate said casually as she took her seat. Rachel looked up in surprise as she had expected the woman to grieving like the rest the crew as there were very few people who had gotten through to their loved ones. Rachel noted that even having the good news, Kate was still subdued and looked rather exhausted. She searched the woman's face for a trace of anger and found nothing.

"What about your family and husband?" Rachel asked with trepidation as she was not very good with people and emotions on the best of days.

"Family been gone for years. My husband passed last year" Kate said with a shrug playing it off like it wasn't a big deal. "So tell me is everything the Captain said true? You know about your secret mission. Why you were digging around the snow all those days?" Kate asked in an idle tone making conversation.

"Yes" Rachel said carefully as she was ready to defend her position, give her side of the situation.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Kate asked, Rachel nodded.

"Yes" Rachel answered, she waited for Kate to ask 'was it worth it?' followed by the anger but it never came into the woman's features. Instead she gave a nod and looked rather calmly resigned to it all.

"So did you have the chance to call your loved ones?" Kate asked. Rachel shook her head, she couldn't even get the CDC on the SAT phone.

"I don't have any family and the one person I tried to call. Well the phone was turned off. So I can only assume he is dead" Rachel said trying to keep her own poker face on. Silence lapsed between them as they drank their tea.

"My condolences" Kate said. Rachel looked away and nodded as she didn't want to be a pragmatic or be a realist this one time. She wanted someone she loved to survive this, she needed something to motivate her, to keep her going besides the sheer need to survive. She needed to feel that hope the Captain had instilled into the crew when he told them they would be staying on the ship while she worked on trying to develop a vaccine.

"Thank you" Rachel said appreciating the acknowledgement of her loss. "I saw the damage to your helicopter, looked like a rather close call" Rachel said making conversation, Kate swallowed the sip of tea she had taken and made a face as she waved a dismissive hand.

"We were lucky." Kate said casually as she didn't want to make a big deal about it. She felt if you talked about a situation like it was a drama then it would turn into one. She preferred to keep everything low key as much as possible.

"I saw the damage" Rachel said, she was still feeling shaken by being grazed by a bullet earlier that day. Obviously she didn't know her bunkmate very well as the woman didn't seem to be affected at all.

"It wasn't anywhere close to hitting me and anyway the damage to the Helo was superficial, I just hope they don't take the cost of repairs out of my pay check when we get back" Kate joked. Rachel gave a weak laugh realising the woman was using humour to deflect attention off how she was feeling.

"I'm sure you'll be safe given the current climate" Rachel told her, thinking it was a good tact to take.

"I hope so, the exchange rate was killer last time I checked and I'm being paid in Australian dollars" Kate said before taking a sip of her own tea.

"Better in than being paid in Pounds" Rachel quipped, Kate tilted her head to the side and looked at her funny.

"You made a joke" Kate said mockingly disbelief.

"I am capable of a sense of humour given the chance" Rachel, Kate chucked as Rachel gave a brief smile grateful that she still had the ability to smile and laugh after today's events. They lapsed into a companionable silence that turned sombre. After a few long moments, Kate sat back in her chair and rubbed her face with her hands before giving a sigh of aggravation.

"I'm going to call it a night" Kate said.

"Ok, I think I'll head back to the lab" Rachel said as Kate rose from her chair. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "You should think about getting some sleep yourself" Kate told her as she headed to the door.

* * *

Mike sat at the desk staring at into space as he still heard Christina's voice in his head. Her grief stricken recriminations playing over in his head about how he left her alone to fend for herself and the kids, left her alone to watch their son die. Lucas. It tore him to pieces to know he didn't have a chance to save his son, didn't have a chance to see him before he died. But the bad news did come with some good as knew his girls were alive and he had gotten to hear their voices. It near made him break down in tears when he listened their pleas to come home. It hurt that he couldn't do anything to comfort them, his words of advice and comfort felt empty as all he could think about was how he was stuck on a ship too far away to hold them, to keep them safe and the dark reality that he might never see them again. Just like Lucas.

His hands squeezed into tight fists as he just wanted punch something; he wanted to tear the office apart just to let out his grief. But then he remembered he stuck on a ship, where he couldn't do anything and had too many people counting on him to keep it together, keep a level head. So he pushed up from his seat and stalked out of the office to go to the bridge. He knew he would go insane if he stayed in his quarters. He needed to do what he did best and that was work.

* * *

Later that night,

Kate hit her head on the ceiling when she awoke with a start thanks to the alarm blared through out the ship. She hissed with pain and rubbed head when the P.A. activated the Master Chief's voice sounded through the alarm.

_"Baton down. Officer of the Watch; Seal the ship. Prepare for Nuclear Detonation. This is no drill"_ he voice drawled over the P.A.

Kate swung her legs over the edge of the top bunk, she hadn't even stripped out of her clothes but she did take off her boots. She slid off the top bunk softly landing on the floor. She turned on the lights and then went to pull on her boots for some strange reason she felt the need to do something than just sit on her behind and just wait to die. The alarm went silent and was slowly replaced with wail of a siren, the noise sent a shiver down Kate's spine.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath wishing for once she actually believed in a higher being because then it would give her a reason to pray without feeling like an idiot.

Within seconds of the siren's start, the ship shook, the lights flickers and then went completely out. Kate sat in pitch black, it was terrifyingly quiet as the engines had seemed to stop. _The EMP, back up systems will kick in..._ Kate thought to herself so she would calm down.

But it didn't help as she jumped when the room was filled with a red glow from the emergency lighting system. She started to hear voices shouting and movement outside her room. She got up from the bed and opened the door. Only to stop short as men raced passed her door.

Knowing better, she decided it was best to stay in her quarters and out the hallways. It wasn't like she could help them. She felt entirely superfluous to them and she would only get in the way. So she closed the door and secured it and moved back to the bunk taking a seat. She ran her hands through her hair as she told herself not for the first time that she was relying on others to keep her alive and it meant she would have to get used to not knowing every detail and being in the loop. Even if she hated it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Few days later, off the coast of America. Mayport Naval Station, Florida

Kate stood out on the deck with everyone else looking at the coast line. She knew when the crew on the deck saw it. They saw hope, their home, their chance to find their families. She looked out at it and just saw dread as she wondered when and where she would be abandoned. To her it was a death sentence even if Tom reassured her that he had a purpose for her it didn't stop her from feeling like there was an expiry date on her.

She was an outsider in this crew and as such she deliberately kept a low profile keeping to herself and staying out of the ship crews' way. She hadn't spoken to anyone in days except for Rachel as they both shared the same space and they tended to run into one another in the wardroom to catch a meal or a late night tea. They were starting to build a bit of a comradery from the snippets of time spent together. Rachel like herself was just keeping her head down but at least the woman had work.

Kate hadn't done anything of use but then there was no need for the Helo to go for a fly and it would be a waste of resources to do so just because she was bored or feeling the need to get off the ship. She still remembered Evan telling her that Phillip Chen hadn't been run over for J-walking. He had reassigned the guy so she could take his place. He wanted her to keep her safe and knew that her being on the Nathan James out of harm's way was the only course of action. All because he owed it to his dead brother take care of her. She didn't know how to take what he said, so she did what she usually did and called him an asshole and said he better he stay alive because she was going to kick his ass when she saw him next.

What was she supposed to say? I love you in a very platonic fashion and will forever be grateful to you for saving me. Yeah, she was not capable of heart wrenching soulful conversations on the phone or in person. She always found those kinds of conversations incredibly awkward and mostly embarrassing.

After a few minutes of fresh air and sunshine she turned her back to the view and walked away as she saw all she needed to and now needed to get away from the crew as she could see they were getting maudlin as they realised they weren't coming home to the place they remembered. At least they would eventually get the chance to go home. Kate on the otherhand had no idea what her future held at all. With that unnerving thought she walked in the direction of the Helo Bay.

It had become one of her haunt when she wasn't in her bunk or the wardroom as it was barely frequented and there was enough space for her to practice QiGong when she needed relax and not think. Thinking was not a good thing for her to do as she just kept rolling the same grim thoughts in her head over and over. She found with Qigong it kept her mind empty as she just focussed on her form and breathing. It helped a lot to reduce her stress even though she'd rather be in the gym doing more strenuous exercise but sadly mash potatoes and peaches was not enough to give her the energy and stamina she needed to have a good workout. She needed some solid food, hell she needed a cold beer and steak which she highly doubted she would be getting any time soon.

* * *

Mike looked out at the headlands through his binoculars, he didn't know what he expected to see but he felt the draw of the land, the sense of purpose fill his being as he looked upon the Florida coastline. It meant he was closer to finding the girls and Christina. He already started formulating plans to track them down. They just had to drop off the doctor at the labs and hope that there was a large enough of a military presence for him to be given time off to retrieve his family and bring them back to a secure location out of harm's way.

Whatever happened with Kate wasn't his business and she was smart enough to know where she was not welcome. He was just glad she had made herself scarce as she was such an easy target to lash out at with his anger. The last few days when she did cross his path, she just took whatever he dished out and let his words roll off her like water off a duck's back. It pissed him off to no end that she was so blasé towards him which only annoyed him further because he didn't know why it matter to him when it really shouldn't have. Not able to finish his thoughts he heard the side door to the bridge open and Master Chief start to talk to him.

"No radiation detected within a hundred mile radius sir, if America was nuked it wasn't here" Master Chief said, Mike felt relief wash over him at the knowledge as it was good news. He lowered his binoculars and looked to the man feeling a sense of relief at his news. It was some good news which meant he was closer to getting his family back.

"We're home" he said the Master Chief with a reverence as the words meant something in the moment. He hoped it spelled the end of their journey so he could finally go search for his family. They on the balcony in silence for a long moment just drinking it in before Mike lifted the binoculars again to take in the view once again.

* * *

Some time later, Kate sat in the Wardroom at a table with a bowl of peaches and a cup of tea when the door opened and Tom walked closed the door securing it before he moved to her table and sat down opposite her.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Tom asked as he got himself a fresh cup of coffee. He was about to go back up to the Bridge but as this was the first time he'd been in the same room as Kate in over a few days he thought it best to take advantage as they needed to talk. Or mostly, he needed to talk to her.

"By all means" Kate said as she seasoned her peaches with salt and pepper. Tom watched her with an odd look on his face as he had never seen anyone season their fruit with salt let alone pepper and then a dash of maple syrup.

"You know the mashed potato would be better choice for dinner than eating that" he told her as he took a seat opposite her at the table with his coffee.

"Had the mash for lunch. I assume you're here for more than socialising" Kate said idly as she ate a bite of the peaches.

"You heard my speech today?" he asked Kate nodded as she knew he was referring to when he addressed the ship to inform that they were going to stay on the ship and continue the mission to bring a vaccine to save the world..blah blah and so forth. She listened to the key parts as she didn't feel his sense of 'hope' or devotion but knew better than to voice it.

"Yeah I did, it was very inspiring" Kate said being completely honest with him.

"Thank you" he said before he took a breath to address a rather sensitive manner "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you these last few days" he added.

"About?" she asked.

"I know you're not American-" he started but Kate cut him off with an amused smile.

"You say that like being Australian is a bad thing" Kate chuckled and then sobered somewhat when she said "Though am I still an Australian Citizen if my country no longer exists?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer that" he told her, Kate took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Tom swore he could see her letting go of the quandary as casual apathy from before played on her features again. He knew it was just a mask like the one he wore around the chip that said he was completely in control of the situation to reassure everyone that they would be alright even if the situation contradicted him.

"Sorry, we digressed. You wanted to talk to me about something" Kate said before she took another bite of her meal. Tom leaned forward in his chair and rested his hands on the table interlacing his fingers.

"Yes, I wanted to say is that you're not officially a member of my crew or my military but you are one of two people on this ship fully qualified to operate the Helo. But you're the only one of two people who has logged the most hours flying in a combat zone." he told her. Kate picked up the maple syrup bottle and opened it and proceeded to pour some more on her fruit.

"I wouldn't say Grodin is fully qualified to fly a Helo" Kate scoffed as she recapped the bottle and put it back into the holder on the table. Tom frowned as this was the first time they had spoken about Grodin, but then the last four months had been about the ship's weapons systems.

"You said he has potential" Tom said assuming she was understating the young lieutenant's talent for reasons he couldn't figure out yet. Kate gave a chuckle.

"No offense but anyone on this ship has potential to fly a Helo. Grodin just has a leg up because he went to flight school" Kate told him. He frowned at her as he didn't like being unaware of a problem in his crew. Kate seemed to read his expression because she gave a sigh and said. "Look, he's ok. He just needs to learn a few things." Kate said

"Cut the crap and tell me what is going on?" Tom told her. Kate looked reluctant to say anything but he shot her a look that said he would push her until he got answers.

"I'm not military and I've been retired for 3 and half years. You know how it is" she said trying to be make a big deal of it and failing miserably.

"No, I don't" he said in a flat tone. Kate gave a frustrated sigh.

"He doesn't value my experience or knowledge or respect me because obviously in Australia our piloting is substandard. It's not a big deal, he's young and cocky. He's still in that stage where he thinks he's the bees knees because he's been training for the last year. A few more close calls with death should humble him" she said with a dismissive shrug.

Tom looked at her as if she were insane. On one side he completely understood what she was saying. Nearly every soldier came out of basic training; overconfident, cocky and thinking they were prepared for everything. They trained for months, they were patted on the back when they got it right but the translation of that training into combat was a definite shock to the system because nothing could prepare a person for reality of what they would do, the stress of their jobs when everything hung on the line. Of course, majority lost the cockiness when it became real that they could be killed.

"Tell me why am I only hearing about this now?" he asked.

"Because I didn't realise I had to report to you about it" Kate said defensively.

"Well if you're going to stay then yes you will have to report to me and Commander Slattery" he told her as if she didn't know that already.

"If? You make it sound like I have a choice" she said her tone rich as she at another bite of her dinner. They both knew her chance of survival off the ship was incredibly low given the current situation.

"I was going to ask to stay as a courtesy. You do have a choice, it's just that we both know you're better off staying with the James than going anywhere else" he said watching her carefully.

"You know considering my history with your XO who doesn't exactly have the cosiest feelings towards me of late for reasons unknown to me. I figured you'd kick me off the ship because of the Bro code bullshit" she said in disdain. Tom gave her a patronising look as he sat back in his chair and looked at her. He couldn't believe she had just said that to him.

"Ok, let's get something clear here. First off, Bro code?" he asked in disbelief. He looked at her with a firm and steady gaze. "I'm an adult and the Captain of a Destroyer, responsible for 216 souls. I don't have the time for that juvenile bullshit. Secondly, what happened between you and Mike is yours and his business. When it starts to affect my ship then we'll have problems and even then I'm not going to throw you over board without a valid reason. So you and he are going to have to figure out a way of being copacetic preferably before I have to step in. Understood?" He asked her, he didn't mean to be so stern but he had to make himself clear with her.

"Yes and for the record. I'm always civil to his face" she said in a slightly petulant manner which he gave a wry smile at the last part. He didn't need to know what she said out of ear range as it was once again none of his business.

"I'm sure" he said mockingly as right now she going from 30 something to 13 in age.

"You know Mike treats me like I purposefully came back after four years of no contact to be a thorn in his backside but I didn't. I moved on and I didn't ask for this assignment and it was forced on me" Kate told him.

"Right along with a healthy pay check. I know going into the Private Sector is lucrative, maybe he's peeved you sold out" Tom said wondering why he suddenly felt like Miranda sitting opposite Carrie from Sex and the City. Just making that analogy made him think of how his wife used to have an unhealthy obsession with that show. Kate gave an aggravated sigh dragging him out of his thoughts.

"Please, you want the truth?" Kate asked she pulled her wallet out of back pocket and pulled out the photocopy of the post it note and held it out to him "This is the only reason I'm here" she told him, he leaned forward and took the piece of paper, unfolding it to read it.

She watched as he read the photocopy and then looked back at her, he gave away nothing as he looked down at the paper again. This time his covered his mouth with his hand and looked intently down at the page like he were analysing a state secret. Kate flattened her lips into a thin line as she waited for him to say something. Instead he remained silent and sat back in his chair. After a long moment passed, he spoke.

"Let me guess this straight" he said in serious manner. "You're on my ship because of an I.O.U. on a Post it Note you wrote 3 years ago" he said as he looked down at the photocopied Post it note in complete disbelief. This was something he had definitely not expected. He had to cover his mouth earlier because he was struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yes" she said feeling petulant and annoyed at his assumptions of her character thinking she might be on the ship because she held a torch for Mike. Her annoyance only increased when he smiled.

"A post it note" he clarified. Kate threw her hands up in frustration.

"Yes, I was drunk. Very, very drunk and it didn't seem like a big deal when my brother in law Evan wanted it in writing that I owed him onw. I didn't know it would be considered a valid contract that I'm obligated to fulfil" Kate told him flustered as it was embarrassing as hell.

"Really? Evan Lassiter told you that and you bought it?" Tom asked trying to keep a straight face, he was silently impressed with man for his ingenuity and originality. He looked at Kate and could help but smile at her flustered yet sour mood.

"Look I was grieving at the time. So excuse me if I wasn't thinking clearly at the time and he'd never lied to me before. So yes, I believed him and his I.O.U. was that I sign a 3 year contract with his company. So I did and here I am" Kate said and that was when he started to laugh. He laughed at her like it was possibly the funniest thing she had ever told him.

"Are you done?" she asked after she allowed him a few minutes to enjoy a good laugh at her.

"No, this is gold"

"Fuck you"

"I'm not your type." He replied and he only laughed some more when she flipped him the one finger salute. "Can I keep this?" he asked.

"No!" she said indignantly as she then reached across the table and snatched the paper out of his hand.

"So now you know all my secrets" Kate said.

"If this is your only secret then we should be fine" he countered with a smile. He hadn't known what to think when she came onto his ship but now he knew she had felt legally bound by a Post it note. Well for some reason it made him laugh and damn if that didn't feel good.

"I'm glad you find my stupidity amusing and don't you dare tell anyone about this" she said as she folded the paper up and put it back into her wallet and into her pocket. Tom rose from his seat and looked down at her.

"Then why do you carry it with you?" he asked.

"I carry it to remind me never to put things down in writing and always read a contract before you sign it" Kate said snidely, though that wasn't entirely true.

"Well, I guess now it's the Post it note saved your life" he said before leaving the wardroom.


	5. Chapter 5

_ A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. They are well loved as it's great to have feedback! :-D and also thank you for the favourites and the follows!_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_****Flashback****_

_Nearly 5 years ago, Rota, Spain._

_"We legally separated before I left. So I can only imagine what fun she's getting up to. My lawyer thinks she'll want to keep it on for another 5 years before divorcing me so she can get benefits from the uniformed services former spouse protection act" Mike said, before he downed the shot of Tequila relishing the burn before he chased it with locally brewed cerveza._

_He and Tom were sitting in a quiet outdoor bar enjoying R&amp;R. Well Tom was enjoying his R&amp;R while jealousy clawed at Mike as he wished he and Christina were more like Tom and his wife. The two were happily married and from what Mike inferred the two barely fought unless it was about Tom's father. If only Mike had the Captain's problems. So while Tom enjoyed his cerveza and shot, Mike just wanted to drown his sorrows._

_He loved his job but he hated how it was destroying his marriage. 8 years he and Christina had been married. Christina had told him she was tired of the isolation, of having to be responsible for their family home. How she was tired of waiting for him, tired of not being appreciated. That part he never understood as he always gave her his best. Yet she managed to strip him down and make him feel like he was absentee, negligent bastard who preferred the Navy to his wife and kids which was not true. But it didn't help that she knew just the right words to cause the maximum amount of pain and guilt. Last time he was home from deployment, she hit him with papers for a legal separation. Not quite a divorce but damn it if the failure to keep his wife didn't just sit his gut and rot away at his self value._

_"What are you going to do?" Tom asked him. Mike sat back in his chair and gave a sigh as he really didn't want to talk about, what was the point? There was nothing he could do to fix it._

_"I don't know, can't do anything from here. It's just a mess" Mike said._

_"I'm sorry man" Tom said._

_"Not your fault" Mike said before he took another long pull of Cerveza._

_"I'm going to get us another round tequila" Tom said, Mike gave a nod grateful that they had plans to get drunk as that's what he needed a few hours of brain time out. Tom rose from his chair and disappeared to the bar._

_While he was gone Mike looked around the bar. It was a beautiful clear night and the temps were in the low 74s. The bar was inside a small building with tables and chairs spilling out onto a large patio that was lit with fairy lights that overlooked the harbour. It was a tourist trap but one only ventured by those who wanted a quiet drink and a good meal something Mike preferred to the nightclubs he had frequented in his youth._

_He was looking out to view when he heard the chair opposite him scrap on the stone, he looked over to see a beautiful woman with a Cerveza in hand park herself in Tom's chair. She had long red hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a loose light blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and white short shorts coupled giving him a nice view of a set of long shapely legs._

_"Hi" she said with a smile, she sat back in Tom's chair with such an ease that said she had been sitting there all along._

_"That seat is taken" Mike told her as he really wanted to drink himself into a coma not tell another woman that Tom was married._

_"I know, by the way I'm Kate" She said as she sat forward and held out one hand to him._

_"Mike" he said as he shook her hand to be polite. He noted the firm grip of the shake before he released her hand. She smiled and took a pull of her beer, then leaned forward in her seat and rested her arms on the table as if they were having an intimate conversation._

_"So, Mike. Here's the deal. My friend over there" she said, gesturing with the slight tilt of her bottle in direction of a table where another attractive woman who looked to be of Asian descent sat watching them. "and I were wondering if you guys like to join us" Kate said, her eyes roved him like he were a juicy steak cooked to perfection. Normally he'd find it annoying but right now it gave his ego a bit of zing to know he still had the power to attract a beautiful woman._

_"We're just having a quiet one" Mike said subtly turning her down as it was second nature to shut down any and all flirtation with a stranger because he was married. Legally separated.. he silently corrected himself. _

_"We couldn't change your mine? My friend is keen on yours. She likes how he fills out his jeans. Her words not mine" Kate told him, Mike gave a chuckle while Kate plied him with a stunning smile._

_"He's married" Mike told her, he watched as her eyebrows rose in surprise but the smile remained more or less intact._

_"Yeah?" Kate asked, he nodded._

_"he is" He assured her. _

_"Happily?" she asked. Now he had to admit that was a first as he had never fielded such a question from a woman but was amused nonetheless._

_"Yes, sickeningly so" he informed her before laughing._

_"Good for him" Kate said with a shrug not even looking disappointed for a minute. "So what about you?" Kate asked Mike, he paused mid sip as he wondered how loose her friend's morals were._

_"I'm not interested in being your friend's consolation prize" Mike told her._

_"Who says I was asking for my friend's sake." She shot hot sensual look that made it pretty clear that she was definitely interested and not shy in showing it. "I don't see a ring" she added before she bit her bottom lip and smiled. It was sexy as hell and it was something he definitely should not find a turn on considering his situation but he did._

_Mike had taken off his ring, he knew it was stupid but he preferred it off since he signed the legal separation documents. It was like the ring had gone from being a symbol of his promise to something that mocked him, reminding him that he was a failure._

_"I-" he hesitated for the first time in 8 years of being married he found himself more than idly tempted. "Sorry, not interested" he told her but even he heard the uncertain note in his voice like he didn't quite feel what he said._

_"You don't look disinterested" she drawled before taking a pull of her beer._

_"It's complicated" he said as he was not going to open up his life story for her as he was pretty sure with the confidence she displayed that she could convince him to do just about anything if she put her mind to it. And his resolve to stay faithful to his wife that he was currently legally separated from was definitely starting to weaken and he didn't want to think about what that said about him as a man._

_"Life is complicated in general so let me be blunt" She said as she took his phone off the table where he had it sitting all evening hoping Christina would call him. But she hadn't and now Kate rose from Tom's seat and moved towards him with his phone in hand. "I'm not interested in a relationship. They bore me. But I am interested in flings. Fun, casual flings, no strings, no promises, just a really good time and very satisfying sex" she told him, she finished putting her number in the phone._

_"Think about it and if you want to indulge. Let me know" Kate said as she placed his phone on the table, she picked up her Cerveza and walked away as Tom came back with a tray plied with shots and a two fresh Cervezas._

_"Let her know what?" Tom asked as he placed the tray down and dolled out the drinks._

_"Nothing, just another number to delete" Mike said as he picked up his phone. He pretended to delete it when in fact he saved it. He clearly wasn't thinking but her invitation was enticing to own._

* * *

Present Day,

Mike scrolled his contact list of his mobile phone and stopped at 'K. Gentry' for just a moment before exiting the menu. He didn't why he bothered to carry his mobile on him. It was a bad habit to have but as he exited the contact list he stopped for a long moment looking at the background picture on the phone of his kids before he powered it down and put it back into his pocket. He made a mental note to put it back in his office as it was only serving as a distraction. One he didn't need.

He sat back in his chair and looked out at to the front window of the bridge as the ship headed towards Gitmo, His hand fisted tightly as all his expectations of returning home were blown out the water. Instead of getting closer he was now felt even further away from his family. He took a slow and steady breath as if would stem the tight knot of rage and pain within him.

They were supposed to go home and hand over Doctor Scott. But Tom had changed the mission parameters instead of chancing Mayport he decided they'd keep the doctor and get her to make the vaccine on the ship. Mike understood the decision from a tactical stand point but he that didn't stop him from hating it. He wanted to see his girls, to have one more stupid argument with Christina but the further they got away from Mayport the further away he felt himself from getting to his family.

He checked his watch and sighed as it was time to go to Dr Scott's show and tell hour. He rose from his chair and looked out to the horizon one last time before leaving the bridge.

When Mike enter the room he realised he was the last in, he closed the door behind him and moved around the group of senior officers and NCOs to stand next to Tom who gave him a side look as if to acknowledge his presence before turning his attention back to Dr Scott. It was only then he spotted Kate standing next to Doc Rios and wondered what the hell she was doing in the debriefing.

* * *

Dr Scott held the floor while her assistant Dr Tophet sat on a stool by a table with large screen computer and a laptop played image after image of people who had obviously died from exposure to the virus. The visual aids helped her get her point across to the group more clearly than if she had tried described it.

"The rules of the virus are these" Rachel said not stopping to acknowledge that Commander Slattery was late to the meeting, she gestured to some very graphic images of the virus as she spoke to the group.

She looked at them all gauging each response to make sure they understood the gravity of the situation as they would all at some point be tasked a mission off the ship or ordering others off the ship into places that have been infected by the virus.

"It's airborne which means you can get it from anyone who's a carrier, anyone manifesting the disease even a recently deceased corpse. Typical symptoms are lethargy and a cough followed by bleeding sores and haemorrhaging. Ending in dementia and total blood loss" Rachel told them, she paused briefly as she allowed them some time to digest the information.

The youngest members in the room looked a little sick and shell shocked while the more experienced members in the room either looked at her or the screen. Most looked concerned, scared while the Captain looked pensive, Commander Slattery looked angry but she was beginning to wonder if it was the man's default setting. She looked over at Kate who like herself and Tophet were the only civilians on the ship. The redhead took a sip of her tea and looked rather undisturbed by information as if Rachel had just told her the weather report. She knew not to take offence as it was just Kate's poker face.

"How long is incubation period?" Rios asked the first person to break the silence in the room. Rachel looked to him grateful for someone to talk besides her.

"3-5 days. At least that's what I understood from my last contact with the CDC" Rachel told them,

"When was that?" Mike asked, there was something goading about his tone. Rachel let it roll off her back instead of snapping at him, she took a deep breath telling herself she did deserve it for what she had gotten them all into.

"3 weeks ago when we were still up in the Arctic" Rachel told him, looking directly at Mike as she was ready to take some of his hostility but she was not going to have him metaphorically walk all over her. The only saving grace was that the Captain supported her and he would do anything to help her complete her mission to make a viable vaccine.

"Wait are-are you saying the incubation period can change?" Rios asked her. Rachel broke her gaze from Mike and turned her back to the infuriating man to speak to the doctor.

"The virus has been mutating for some time. Although now I believe now it's artificially altered it has been stabilised" Rachel explained to him, the ship's doctor nodded acknowledging her.

"You believe?" Mike asked. His disdain obvious to the room that he had little respect for had been ready to defend herself to the man but Lieutenant Green stopped her.

"What about animals?" Lieutenant Green asked. Rachel gave him a reassuring but brief smile.

"If you're concerned about Hallsey. Dogs happen to be immune other animals can't contract the disease. They just can't transmit it to humans" she informed him. Lt Green leaned down and patted his German Shepherd dog looking a little happier to know he wouldn't be losing another friend.

"I thought the birds from the Arctic were the original carriers" Mike said, Rachel turned her back to Mike and took a breath to keep her annoyance in check instead of biting his head off as she had already covered the history of the virus. But then he had been late so he missed her talk about the history of the virus, so for his sake she summarised.

"The birds were the original carriers the virus jumped probably from their faeces to a mammal before mutating and landing on us. After several mutations it was artificially altered. It is that version of the mutated strain that is currently devastating our planet" She told him.

Kate held her half full mug of tea and scratched her eyebrow with her thumb wishing that the meeting would be over. While she appreciated being in the loop about this. She really wished she hadn't learned the full extent of the virus and the less than palatable imagery of it. Ignorance was truly bliss and she wished she could erase the images of those dead victims Rachel had a screensaver on the laptop screen and the larger computer screen. Something told her it would forever linger in her mind.

"So CBR gear at all times except outside and open spaces mask can be off to preserve your oxygen" Rachel told them all, Kate made a mental note to never land the Helo in a hot spot without CBR gear on.

"And inside?" Tom asked speaking for the first time after he had handed the floor to Rachel.

"One infected person could jeopardise this entire ship…" Rachel paused " simply by breathing" she said in a deadly serious tone. It was the kind of statement that had the whole room sitting up and taking note. Kate looked around to see the younger officers exchange looks of fear. The older officers appeared to be better at holding their Poker faces as they exchanged looks but they appeared unreadable. At least to Kate anyway, she didn't linger too long at looking at them, her eyes fell to Mike and saw him raise his hand.

"Question, before we send our men into a hot zone. If the virus keeps mutating and you haven't heard from homeland in almost a month. How can you be so sure of what you're sure of?" Mike asked, Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes as only he could ask a question and make it antagonising at the same time. She also was a little glad that she wasn't the only one getting the ass end of Mike's foul manners. Four years had really brought out the worst in him.

"If I had any doubt about what I was saying. I would tell you" Rachel assured him in a firm tone.

"I would hope so" Mike replied snidely as he completely disrespected Rachel in front of everyone. Kate had to give the woman kudos for standing her ground and not looking shaken as the silence in the room was incredibly awkward. Tom, however looked unimpressed as he stood to his full height.

"Any other questions?" Tom asked the room but his tone was clear that it was a rhetorical question and when he was met with silence he gave a nod. "Ok, then. Dismissed" he told them, the room slowly emptied out and Rachel turned her back to them and pretended to be busy with the computers.

"For what it's worth, he's been an asshole to me even since I stepped on board" Kate said to her as she stepped forward.

"The man is insufferable" Rachel said looking a little flustered.

"He wasn't always like that. It's just a bad time for everyone" Kate said.

"Yes, but that is not a valid excuse for him to disrespect me in front of the other officers" Rachel told her. Kate gave her a sympathetic smile as she didn't have the answers nor the patience to defend Mike.

* * *

The following morning,

The ship made port at Gitmo. Grodin and Lange had gotten up before dawn with the Flight deck crew to get ready. Kate spent part of her time with Helo and then the other half in the wardroom with Lt. Granderson the Navigator, Ensign Mason who would be her comms. Officer and the Captain plotting out the most efficient flight plan for the morning.

Once the sun rose over the horizon, Kate returned to the now empty Helo bay in her flight suit relaying the information of their flight plan and current weather conditions that had been registered in CIC to Lange and Grodin.

"Not to sound petulant but isn't it my turn to be pilot?" Grodin asked Kate after she finished her briefing, she shot Lange a look of incredulity before she looked to Grodin.

"It would have been but right now is not the time for you to be practising. I've been fair with you getting your flight hours but given the current climate and that we're possibly flying in hostile territory, I'm taking lead" she told him in a firm tone hoping he'd get the memo that it was not up for negotiation but Grodin felt otherwise.

"How am I supposed to learn?" Grodin asked her. Kate gave a tight smile as her patience was running rather thin with him.

"When we have more than one Helo, more than one pilot who can teach you. Then we'll talk about you taking lead on flights that have a potentially high risk of danger. Ok?" she asked him, but Grodin gave her a petulant look that said he was going to push it.

"What about CBR gear?" Grodin asked at this point Lange mumbled something about getting his preflight duties started and went off to the Helo that sat outside.

"Suits are all spoken for and we have orders to not land anywhere but the Nathan James. If you're uncomfortable-" Kate was going to say if he was uncomfortable with the idea of not having CBR gear then he could stay behind but was interrupted before she could.

"What's the hold up?" Mike asked, he walked over to them, dressed in his usual BDUs carrying a mug of coffee looking like he was in a good mood, hell he just looked good period and as he got closer the aroma of coffee wafted lovingly in the air capturing Kate's attention as she really wished the Helo had cup holders. She had not had enough caffeine this morning to satisfy herself.

"We've just finished our briefing, Sir" Grodin said donning his professional manner. Kate's attention snapped away from the coffee fantasy she was having as Grodin's deep respect and courteous nature towards Mike hit a raw nerve.

"Then what are you doing standing here?" Mike asked him in a patronising manner. Kate wished she could just capture Mike's ability to make Grodin her bitch because in true form the Lieutenant stood straighter and gave the man his attention and respect. Something Grodin lacked when he was around her.

"Go, get the preflight checklist prepped. I'll be there in a moment" Kate told Grodin. The Lieutenant looked to Mike who gave him a dismissive nod of the head and Kate blew out an agitated breath as Grodin practically ran for the Helo just to satisfy his superior officer.

"That's getting old" Kate muttered under her breath as she watched the Lieutenant run off to the Helo.

"You got issues with your co-pilot?" Mike asked stepping closer to her, Kate gave him a droll look because he was stating the obvious. She was also annoyed at how good he and the coffee smelt together. _Why couldn't he had kept his distance?_ She thought...

"Lassiter" he prompted.

"Sorry?" she asked mentally kicking herself for being distracted. "Yes, we have issues" Kate said thought she was pretty sure there wasn't one aspect of her life that didn't lack issues at the moment.

"Well you should sort it out since you two are going to be working together for a while" Mike advised her, Kate's lips thinned out into a fine line as she wished she could tell him to cram his useless advice where the sun didn't shine. But she didn't because she didn't have the time and frankly her thoughts were a little scattered from standing so close to him with fresh coffee in grabbing distance. So she took a different tactic.

"I could say the same for us. When are we going to talk?" Kate asked mockingly as she looked up him, He looked down at her and their eyes locked. His expression softened for just a moment and her heart skipped a beat because for one second she saw the man she had loved looking back at her. But as soon as she saw it his expression hardened again as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You ready to go?" he asked in a curt tone. Her question completely ignored.

"You should know from experience that I'm always ready Commander" she said glibly, before she looked out the open Helo bay door taking in the view, not wanting to look at him. "But I have to say I got a bad gut feeling about this" She told him in all honesty.

"Yeah well I've had that feeling ever since you stepped foot on the James" He told her, Kate threw a sardonic smile at him.

"Well Commander, for your sake I hope you have a good supply of buscopan cause I'm going to be on the James for the foreseeable future. Now if you'll excuse me" Kate said, she didn't wait for an answer as she ran out the Helo Bay before he get any more jibes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

20 minutes later,

"Coming over Gitmo now" Grodin said informing the ship as it was his job to give them the running commentary on what they were seeing even though they clearly knew what was going on as they were looking at the same feeds as Grodin. But Kate kept her mouth shut.

Kate guided the Helo in a slow and steady search pattern over the Guatanamo Bay, she had never been to this part of Cuba before so flying over the area was foreign to her as well as incredibly eerie. It did nothing to ease the bad feeling in her gut, she felt like something was off but there was nothing to corroborate her 'feeling'. The ground below was disturbingly still, there was nothing, no people, no visible dead bodies.

Just a lot of abandoned and damaged cars, the perimeter fences looked to have been damaged in places but still mostly intact. Other than that there nothing to suggest an obvious danger to mission the Captain wanted to Green light.

As they slowly flew over the area, Kate listened as Lange and Grodin reported back to the ship.

"Negative visual contact. Negative movement. Same on thermals" Lange said,"Zero copy. Zero ground movement" he added a moment later as they continued to pass over area giving the ship live visuals of the ground.

* * *

40 minutes later,

"It's like a Ghost town, shouldn't there be bodies?" Grodin asked as they had finished the main part of their duties and been given some air time for Grodin to practise flying while the ground teams went to work. So they were now flying over the outer areas of the camp to see if there were any signs of survivors holding up nearby. Kate had allowed him to take over as there was nothing to suggest any danger to them and so she was allowing the kid time to practice his flying.

"Not if they were inside" Lange said from the back. Kate had the beginnings of headache as the two men had been yapping non stop and speculating about what happened to the camp. It was a waste of time, especially when it was obvious the base had been vacated in a panic. The cars had been abandoned and the camp left to waste away. The perimeter fence had already started to deteriorate as it had collapsed over on the south west of the camp. There was nothing on thermal imagining except for animal wildlife and even that was scarce.

"Well one of them had to of died outside" Grodin argued.

"Maybe the carrion got to the bodies and their bones are now spread to all the corners of Cuba" Kate said in a mocking tone, she just wanted them to stop before they started speculating that it was a zombie apocalypse. The comm spurred to life as Comm officer Ensign Mason spoke to them.

"_Helo One be advised hostiles are operating on the base employing IEDs, XO has ordered a thermal sweep of the area"_ he said.

"Copy that, stand by" Kate told him, Mason acknowledge the response and she looked to Grodin. "We're closest to scanning Cobra team's area, we'll search pattern 'Delta'." Kate told Grodin. It was a search pattern they had already used but then Grodin hadn't been piloting and right now she felt the risk assessment for them was 'Low' so she didn't bother taking over controls.

"Shouldn't we land the Helo and wait for situation to be resolved." He said. Kate looked at him incredulously.

"Don't be stupid, we don't have CBR gear and anyway I can't think of anyone being able to throw a bomb to the altitude we're at." Kate told him in a sceptical tone. Grodin swallowed nervously and nodded, before he took the Helo on a wide turn to move them into position to start the search.

* * *

_"Nathan James, Vulture One be advised Hostiles are armed with RPGs appear to be enroute to your whisky"_ Tom said over the comm. Mike immediately made the call the Tiger team to cease the refuel and then picked on the comm. receiver for CIC and ordered the Helo to return to ship immediately.

* * *

"Did he say RPGs?" Grodin asked, Kate's stress levels spiked as the man was in control of the Helo and obviously starting to panic.

"Yes" Kate said as stressed as she felt, she kept her cool facade in check because she couldn't see the point in lying to Grodin or panicking.

"Shit, we need to get out of here" Grodin said, sounding completely irrational to Kate who looked at him cynically.

"Just keep it together Grodin and take us up a few more feet and we should be out of firing range and be able to do a thermal sweep the area before you land the Helo back on the James" Kate said calmly as she looked down at the screens that were playing a live feed of the thermal scan of the area but the higher they went the harder it would be to decipher an animal from a human as they all looked like small red blobs.

"Should be out of range?" Grodin asked doubt tainted his voice.

"Just do as I say as it will make you more comfortable. Anyway an RPG weapon's range is about 200 meters that's before the grenade detonates. We are already well out of its range. Something you should already know and have calculated. Now focus Grodin" Kate told him.

* * *

On the Nathan James,

"Sir, there is a situation with the Helo One. They are currently not responding to comms and is drifting off course" Mason said over the comm line while Mike waited for CIC to give him targeting solution on the kill maintenance terminal.

"When it rains it fucking pours" Mike mumbled under his breath as he really didn't need anything more on his plate right now. "Patch me in to the Helo comms" he said to Mason. The comm officer did as ordered and piped the comm line into the mix with the other open channels. They normally kept the Helo comm line separate as their mission was running parallel to most of their missions and thus they usually clogged up the radio waves with intel that was mostly redundant for those on the ground. The bridge filled with the chatter of Helo. He listened along with the whole crew as Kate ordered the Lieutenant to change course immediately and return to the James. Feeling like a little redundant as there was nothing he could from the ship, he still acted.

"Helo One, you are currently off course. What is your Sit Rep?" He asked knowing full well that he was getting all his answers. Grodin had lost his head and Kate was trying in a calm tone to get the Lieutenant under control but failing miserably. He waited patiently for a fulll 5 seconds as his focus was between what was happening with the three parties on the ground and with the Helo up in the sky. The men and the women in the room were already targeting a shed just on the side of the fuel Pier. He was just waiting until the target was locked before he gave the order to fire.

"Helo One, respond?" Mike said when they didn't get a response from the cockpit after his third call. He did not like being ignored. "Mason, can they hear me?" he asked.

"I don't know Sir, but their current trajectory takes them away from Gitmo and the ship" Mason told them. It was enough to know they would not be in the James's weapons range while dealing with the hostiles at the fuel pier so it made his decision easier.

"Cut their channel" Mike ordered and the chatter from the Helo ceased to clog the line. Abandoning them as it was a game of numbers, they weren't in imminent danger like he and the ship with a compliment of crew were.

_"They're going for the fuel tank they're going to blow the whole ship!"_ Chief Engineer shouted over the comm as soon as the Helo chatter cut out.

"CIC to Bridge, where's my target acquisition?" Mike demanded, as they needed to secure the fuel pier immediately.

_"Bridge, surface target is acquired" _CIC returned.

"Fire" Mike ordered.

* * *

A large explosion near the fuel pier caught Grodin's attention for just a moment and Kate took it as she switched the Helo into Autopilot. Helo dipped in the exchange of control from Grodin to the computer. The man noticed and when he went to change it back, Kate grabbed his index finger and pulled it and his hand back in a violent wrench.

"You want to go off the reservation? Get your own damn Helo and fly off into the sunset. This ride is mine. Now do I have to dislocate your finger or will you comply?" Kate asked him. Grodin groaned in pain as she pulled his finger back to make her point clear as he wasn't listening to reason.

When the call from the James about the hostiles and RPGs, Grodin had panicked and started yabbering that they needed to get away and land the helo a safe distance away and wait it out. Obviously from his years as kid with playstation he hadn't desensitized him enough or maybe he just didn't understood that the flight simulations and training were supposed to prepare him for the reality before he was in the situation like now. She didn't even get why he was stressed out, sure there were terrorists on the ground with RPGs but they were heading to the James, an unarmed Helo had to be considered a low priority otherwise they would have been blown out of sky already.

She tugged his finger again so he would answer.

"Yes" he grunted out, his voice filled with pain.

"Yes, what?" Kate asked feeling vindictive in making her point.

"Yes, Ma'am" he said through gritted teeth, Kate released his finger immediately and exchanged control off auto pilot to her and changed course back to the James.

"James, apologies for the delay. We are back on course and touchdown in less than 3 minutes" Kate said over the comm.

"_Copy that."_ Mason said before he gave them new orders that once they landed they would be taking Doc Rios out. Kate kept her eyes forward and focussed on the job even though she wanted to throttle Grodin.

* * *

Less than 3 minutes later,

"_Touch Down" _came over the comm, just as Kate felt the soft thud of the Helo touching the deck. She powered the engine down slightly and the Rotor blades slowed into a rhythmic pattern much like a calm heartbeat. It was usually a soothing noise that Kate enjoyed but right now it did nothing for her.

"Grodin, get off the Helo" Kate told Grodin in firm tone as she was angry and right now they had only a few minutes to bring Rios and a trio of armed soldiers on board and take him to the fuel pier to medivac the Chief Engineer back to the ship. Something she refused to do with Grodin on the Helo acting as her Co-Pilot.

"I said I was sorry" he said. Yes, he had said 'Sorry' but it had only made Kate even madder than she was before because his apology was empty and insincere. Frankly she wanted to break his nose but right now was not the best time.

"Yeah and you'll truly mean it, then you will get off the Helo now" she said, her tone was dark and had a hint of warning which obviously was too subtle for Grodin. As he hadn't budged an inch.

"We're just about to go up again. We can talk after the mission is finished. Right now you need me" Grodin told her in patronizing tone. Kate felt the last of her patience evaporate and with little thought pulled the sidearm Tom had given her for 'safety reasons' and pointed it at Grodin.

"Get out. Now" Kate told him. Grodin's eyes went wide as he saw the gun.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" he exclaimed, as he reared back in his chair, with his hands up in surrender.

"I'm giving you one and only one warning. You have 15 seconds to get off the Helo. If you don't I will shoot you." Kate warned him. He looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" he shouted at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and lifted her chin in defiance as if demanding him to challenge her.

"Yeah, I am. So when you file your long list of grievances to the Captain please use my full name. Kathryn Lassiter. K-A-T-H-R-Y-N. L-A-S-S-I-T-E-R. Now get the fuck off the Helo. Your 15 seconds start now" Kate told him in a calm and somewhat cold manner. Several tense moments passed and the radio went nuts as the bridge wanted to know why they hadn't taken on the Rios and his team yet.

"Fine! I'm going!" Grodin told her as Kate had reach the number 5 in head. Grodin unstrapped himself from his chair and got out of the Helo. When Kate saw him run across the flight deck, she holstered her side arm and turned to Lange.

"We good?" Lange asked her, as he had been communicating with the Bridge the entire time. They seemed more concern with getting Rios to the fuel station than the situation on the Helo. _For now.. _Kate thought grimly.

"Peachy, let's get the Doc and the others on board and get this over with" Kate told him, Lange gave a nod and rose from his seat in the back to the open back door.

"I hear you" he said as he waved Doc Rios and 3 soldiers all in full CBR gear onto the Helo.

* * *

A couple hours later,

"_.. Nathan James will get underway at 1700, All departments are to make mand special reports for the XO on the bridge_" Played on the P.A. system of the ship as Kate left the Helo bay ready for a quick hot shower and a meal of whatever was on offer.

She hadn't seen Grodin or have Tom or Mike approach her about what happened. She had kind of expected Mike to pop up but then she remembered that she was pretty low on the priority list as the ship was being resupplied with food, fuel, weaponry and what else they felt they might need in the foreseeable future. Kate was glad they had brought in supplies for the Helo. Either way the ship buzzing with activity this made navigating the hallways a little more hectic than usual.

She had unzipped her flight suit and shrugged out of the top half tying the sleeves low around her hips, she shook out her tank top as it stuck to her with the sweat of the past mission. Shower was definitely at the top of her current priority list as she made it down the hallway towards the part of the ship where her quarters were. All the while she was mentally preparing herself for when she would be yelled out by the Captain or Mike when a familiar voice bellowed from behind her; caught her attention.

"Red!" He shouted again and Kate stopped in her spot and turned around to the source. There just a few feet away from her a man she never thought she'd see again appeared in the flesh. Her jaw dropped in shock as Tex Nolan appeared from behind a crewman.

"Tex?" Kate asked in disbelief as she wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not as she hadn't seen the man since her husband's funeral. Last she heard he went back to Iraq to be a member of a private security team for a Senator doing a tour of the area but then that was over a year ago.

They exchanged emails, mostly him seeing if she was still alive but it was always superficial and he never told her what he was up to and she figured he was dead like everyone else she knew.

"Yeah, it's me" he told her with his ever cocky grin and chuckle, Kate walked up to him, not able to wipe the wide smile on her face.

"You're alive" she said amazed that he was here. She grabbed the shoulder straps of his Kevlar vest and gave them a playful tug as if testing to be completely sure he was real. He gave a slight groan of pain and Kate looked at him in confusion and then saw the small patch of blood the flank of his vest.

"You're hurt" she said with concern as she stated the obvious.

"Just a scratch" he assured her "and rest assured I'm definitely alive" he told her with a smile, yeah he definitely was as he was hot, sweaty and definitely in need of a shower but it didn't hamper how incredibly happy she was to see him alive.

"Permission to hug?" he asked in a mock serious tone. Kate gave a chuckle and nodded.

"Granted" she said, his arms came around her torso she wrapped her arms his neck. He gave her a tight hug lifting her up to her tip toes. The advantages of him being a few centimetres taller than her mean he didn't have the leverage of height to pull her off her feet. He gave lowered her down until her feet touched the floor and released her just a little so she could lean back in his arms and look at him.

"You got skinny" he said with concern, Kate made a face as it was his usual complaint whenever he saw her. "You been eating?" he asked her. she made a derisive noise and shook her head at his mother hen routine.

"Yes, but I haven't had a beer in over a year" She told him, he looked shocked but then she had been a decent drinker her whole adult life until a few months after Jack's death where she couldn't help but notice she wasn't drinking because she enjoyed it like she used to.

"Did they revoke your Australian citizenship for that?" he teased her, Kate playfully punched his arm, he released her and went to rub his arm like it hurt.

"Get lost" she retorted, a smile still on her lips.

"Is that a direct order?" he said mock serious tone.

"I'm not your boss" Kate told him in an annoyed tone.

"Technically you are since you inherited Jack's half of the business" Tex reminded her, it was technically 45% of the company and Kate hadn't given it a lot of thought as she never saw it as rightfully hers. She had been planning to gift it back Evan but never got around to it in the mess of her grief and then work got in the way.

"Speaking of business; what are you doing here? How did you survive?" she asked him.

"A long story which I'll share with you over Dinner after I've had a shower?" he asked her, his tone hopeful.

"Yeah sure as long as you go to medical" Kate told him. He made a face as he like most men didn't put up a fuss about their injuries until they had a pretty nurse to tend to them. Tex knew that Kate was possibly the worst nurse to have as she lacked a 'tender' hand and apparently her lack of patience for fools make her bedside manner unwelcoming which was why he didn't play up the injury in front of her.

"I don't need medical" he said dismissively.

"I'll make it order since you want me to be your boss" Kate said with a hint of salaciousness as mild flirtation with Tex was fun and they both were about as sexually interested in one another as a goat was attracted to cat.

"I like it when you get feisty on me" He told her.

"I'll drag you to medical by your ear like you're a three year old and enjoy every minute of it" she told him.

"Ok, I'm going" he told her.

* * *

An hour later,

"I've made myself presentable, early dinner?" Tex asked when Kate opened the door to her quarters to find Tex. He looked cleaner and as she stepped closer to him she gave a test sniff of the air.

"You do smell better" She commented, he chuckled as he stepped back to let her out. "How did you find me?" she asked as she started walking down the hallway with Tex following her.

"Dr Scott, told me after she so lovingly tended to my wound. Do you want to see it?" he asked her, Kate threw a mocking look over her shoulder at him before she stepped the side to let a crew member pass by her.

"Did she put a sesame street band aid on it?" Kate asked mockingly as they took the stairs to an upper level of the ship. Tex chuckled, and followed her as she navigated the ship and kept out of the crew members way as they passed their way.

"No, but seriously we need to talk" he told her, Kate stopped and turned at his serious tone to give him her full attention but kept an ear open to make sure if anyone came their way she could step out of the way.

"What about?" she asked wondering what bombshell he was going to drop on her. After the last few weeks she was ready to celebrate the success of Gitmo before the grim and depressing situation of their world sunk in again. Judging by Tex's expression he was about to give her some bad news.

"It's the issue of my back pay?" he said in all seriousness, Kate's jaw dropped in shock because of all the things he could have said to her. He brought up back pay, and he looked dead serious until he cracked a smile. Kate gave an aggravated groan and shook her head at him.

"Not cool" She told him annoyed that he had completely suckered her in.

"Hey, I'm serious" he said mockingly but the smile remained on his face, she was tempted to punch him in the arm but folded her arms instead.

"Oh ok, you want back pay. Just give me your time sheets for the past 5 months and I'll write you a cheque" Kate drawled sarcastically.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

"Lassiter" Mike said as he came into the Wardroom, he was only making a quick coffee stop and break from the bridge while the Captain and the others were gearing up to go to Fu Fu Cantina to meet up with the Russians. Mike felt it was a bad idea but then it was the Captain's decision and who was he to disobey an order.

"Commander Slattery" Kate said as she continued typing away at the daily log she was making on her laptop. Not that it mattered any more but she found comfort in the mundane activity. Plus after Tex was taken away for some mission, so she needed something to occupy her time as she said she'd wait to have dinner with him when he returned.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened out there today?" he asked, wishing he hadn't brought it up as he truly hadn't as he didn't have the time but yet having the wardroom to themselves was a rare situation. So he filled up his cup with coffee.

"Didn't Grodin write you a love letter about it?" Kate asked sarcastically as she didn't look up from what she was writing.

"You mean the official complaint against you?" Mike asked for clarification as he sat down next to her at the table. She knew he was using one of his old cop interrogation tricks on her as he was using his close proximity to distract her which sadly was working because when she took a deep breath, all she could smell of fresh coffee and his clean scent of soap and something uniquely male that was Mike. It was intoxicating as it reminded her of late breakfast in bed, naked- Kate cleared her throat and gave a slight shake of her head as if to shake the thoughts away before she spoke.

"Yes, I'm hoping that he spelt my name correctly as I did spell it out nice and slow for him" Kate said in a droll tone. Annoyed that she was always affected by that combination of scents. Just like this morning, he obviously knew the effect which why he was using it against her now.

"Could you take the attitude down a few notches and talk to me?" Mike asked somewhat politely, it immediately rang alarm bells in Kate's head as he was never polite. Snide; yes, Passive aggressive; definitely. She didn't know why but she suddenly felt very suspicious and uncomfortable by the change of pace.

"I could" she said carefully avoiding eye contact with him. If he could read her mind and see all the dirty thoughts she was having. _You're husband id dead for nearly 18 months and now you're ready for action? I think not, pull it together. He's fucking married... _Kate said mentally slapping herself.

"Kate" he prompted annoyed, he used the tone he saved for when his kids did something wrong and wouldn't give him their attention because they didn't want to be punished.

"Fine" she said frustrated, she closed the laptop and looked directly at him. He saw the exhaustion and resignation writ in her expression. "You know I remember when you used to say my name with a little less hostility" she told him as she gave him her full attention. If he was going to make her uncomfortable then he wasn't going to make it easy on him.

"Could you act like an adult?" He asked her. She glared at him for a long moment in pure defiance before she gave a nod.

"Yes, I can as soon as you speak to me as if I am one" She told him somewhat petulantly.

"What happened today was not acceptable behaviour" Mike told her. Kate sat back in her chair and threw her hands up in a 'what could I do' gesture.

"I know and accept full responsibility for my actions" She said, He was surprised she had admitted as much but then she hadn't exactly apologised. Though he didn't know why he wanted her to apologise, it wasn't necessary but a part of him just wanted to hear her say the words.

"What no excuses?" He asked in slight disbelief, he had glanced over Grodin and Lange's reports. Lange was just an observer to the situation while Grodin who was originally at fault was filled to brim with excuses for his behaviour. Hence why Mike had only glanced as he really had no patience for excuses. Yet he had expected Kate to complain or at least expound on her side of the story.

"Would you believe me over one of your own?" she said her tone dripping with contempt.

"What does that mean?" He asked narrowing his eyes at her not liking her tone or her unveiled accusation of favouritism. Sure he was an asshole to her but it was easier to keep her at arm's length that way. But in no way had he shown favouritism to Grodin over her. Hell, he preferred dealing with her as she seemed to know how to keep her emotions checked while they were on the clock.

"You know exactly what I mean. You got all the details from Grodin, Mason and Lange first before you even consider coming to me first which says to you already made up your mind who is at fault before seeing me or hearing me out" Kate said defending herself, she hated how he was looking at her. Even after all the months of making her feel small, she thought she'd become immune to it. To him but apparently he was her soft spot.

"It's called 'due diligence' and I don't make any judgements until I know all the facts" he told her, Kate made a derisive noise as she was definitely sure he made up his mind about her ages ago.

"Right" Kate scoffed with a roll of the eyes. He shook his head at her.

"What is wrong with you?" Mike asked her, the words slipped out on their own volition as she was not the woman he remembered. She gave a huff of indignation at his question.

"That's rich coming from you." Kate said somewhat scathingly. Mike was about to say something but she continued on "Look Grodin panicked and could have killed Lange and I. So I wasn't comfortable flying into dangerous situation as him as my co-pilot once we landed. So yes, I was excessive with getting him to haul ass off the Helo and yes, I would have shot him because my CO once told me you should never make empty threats. Are you happy now?" She asked him.

_"XO to the Bridge" _Played over the P.A. reminding Mike; he had somewhere else to be.

"Estatic. Now was that so hard?" He asked rising from his seat as he had told Lt Granderson that he'd been gone for just a couple of minutes. He hadn't meant to start a conversation with Kate.

"Intolerably so. Are we done?" Kate asked him, suddenly feeling exhausted by it all. Mike looked at her for a moment and felt himself soften as he hated seeing her look so beaten and exhausted. Kate looked up at him and could have sworn he looked at her with what looked vaguely like concern. Concern in Kate's world usually led to pity and she would not have Mike Slattery pity her, she'd rather have him be a passive aggressive jerk.

"For now, and the Helo is grounded until you and Grodin can learn to play nice together" Mike told her, he left the wardroom before she could draw him into an argument and headed back to the bridge.

* * *

Two hours later, Night had fallen and the ship was still on General Quarters. Kate from her position in the wardroom was able to discern what was going on. That a Russian Naval Ship was blocking the entrance to the bay and that the Admiral in charge of the Russian ship was one cold operator. Or so Tex had told her when he returned with the others. He had spent most of their meal filling her in on everything that had happened and as they had dinner; a few of the other officers who drifted in for a quick meal filled in the rest with up to date details which was not much at the moment. It was apparently a stand off where both sides were waiting for the other side to fire the first shot.

Kate wondered where Rachel was but figured the woman was waiting until later in the evening to get dinner that way to minimise her interaction with the crew. Considering Rachel was wanted by the Russians and not exactly well liked, Kate could understand her hiding away. It was a shame as Kate found Tex to be enjoyable company and after being so reclusive from the crew herself. Kate found it nice to socialise and figured Rachel had to be due a lab break.

"Here" Tex said as he placed a can of beer on the table in front of Kate. Her eyes went wide as she hadn't a beer in nearly 5 months, normally she preferred her beer to be full strength of a German or Australian produced beer or an Irish ale. But right now the light american beer was tempting.

"Ah you can't drink alcohol in the wardroom" Lieutenant Green said as he broke through Kate's thoughts as she was bargaining with herself to lower her standards just to drink the beer when Green's warning reminded her that Mike was in charge of the Wardroom. He was 'Mess President' and he had declared the wardroom from day one to be a dry zone and he also made a list of conversation topics not allowed to be discussed. It was the usual topics of politics, religion and sex.

"Technically, we're not members of the crew and I didn't hear you" Tex told Green as if it would exempt them from the rules.

"He is right, we're the guests and as such have to follow the rules" Kate told Tex as she reluctantly pushed the beer away from her.

"Then we'll take it to deck. I got some nice Cubans here. Celebrate that we are alive" He said as he pulled two cigars out of his shirt pocket and waved them in her direction as he could entice her to indulge. She shook her head.

"I quit smoking ages ago" Kate informed him. He blinked for a moment in disbelief and then smiled as if she had laid down a challenge for him.

"Take a whiff of that" he said holding it out to her nose. Kate snatched the cigars out of his hand to stop him from waving it in her face. She took the cigars and held them together with her fingers at each end and brought it to her nose. She took a slow inhale and exhale. The scent of the cigar was intoxicating in itself as the rich scent reminded her of better times. It was purely a nostalgic thing for her.

"Hmm smells like heaven and hell" Kate told him. Tex smiled as he cracked his can of beer open.

"So, we going to the deck? Beers and cigars" he said. Kate shook her head and passed the cigars back to her.

"No to the cigars, because one day you're going to run out and I'm not going through withdrawals again but I will accompany you to the deck so you're not drinking alone" she told Tex.

"Lieutenant Green?" Tex asked giving the Lieutenant an invitation to the party but the man made a weird face and shook his head.

"I'm good" the man said as he held up his half a glass of water. Kate chuckled and nudged Tex's arm.

"Come on Tex, he's too clean cut for beers and cigars" Kate said in a teasing manner as she picked up her can of beer and held it between her hands. It was so tempting to crack it open but no way was she going bring more trouble on herself. Why give Mike ammunition to throw at her.

"We're on GQ" Lieutenant Green said somewhat defensively and Kate quirked an eyebrow as the guy was too quick to react even to a little teasing. She could only imagine how much fun the guy would have been during basic and sincerely glad she hadn't been there. He truly needed to lighten up.

"You are." Kate clarified to Green that he was on 'Alert' status. "I'm grounded for the foreseeable future and I don't know what your excuse is" Kate said to Tex. The man gave a shrug.

"Do I need one?" Tex asked Kate, he frowned as he like Kate followed the rule of when you're off duty it's time to hit the bar and when you're on a ship. There wasn't exactly a bar tucked away for a quiet beer. So he procured beer and figured the wardroom would do or so Kate assumed.

"I don't know" Kate answered honestly.

"And why are you grounded?" Tex asked as he placed his beer on the table letting it sit for a bit.

"Boring story" Kate said as she picked up his beer and took a sip and then made a face "Ugh it's warm" she complained as she gave his beer back to him. Immensely glad she hadn't open hers as the beer was awful.

"It wasn't chilled. If you don't want yours now" Tex drawled as he went for her unopened can.

"Hey, let's not get too hasty." Kate held her beer close to her body as if protecting it. "One day I'll be desperate for mediocre American beer-" Kate started but Green cut her off.

"Hey!" Green said offended by her remark.

"Just let it go, if there's one thing I've learned about Kate. It's that you should never argue with a redhead. They are downright scary when you anger them"

"I take offence to that stereotype" Kate grumbled in good humour.

"Sure you want the mediocre beer?" Tex asked her teasingly.

"Yes, if I can eat fried tarantula then I can drink this tepid American beer" Kate informed him in a slight haut tone. Tex laughed and then took a sip of his beer, the door to the Wardroom opened and Tom stepped into the room. Lieutenant Green rose from his chair out of deference while Kate and Tex lounged in their chairs. Tom nodded to the Lieutenant to take his seat before he turned his attention to Kate and Tex; more importantly the beer in the wardroom which was a big 'no-no'.

"Captain, can I offer you a beer?" Tex asked in a good natured fashion.

"No, thanks I'm on duty" and you're not allowed to drink alcohol in the wardroom or on the ship" Tom told him as he went to the coffee pot and proceeded to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"Tell me Captain, is it true that I've made a faux pas in bringing a beer in here?" Tex asked curiously in not a little mockingly. The man seemed solid at his job and he had to admit that he had not seen a link between Kate and Tex until he heard through grapevine about how the two worked for Lassiter Industries. He idly wondered how well the two knew one another.

"Yes, there are rules on this ship which extend to the crew and civilian subcontractors. The wardroom is a dry zone" Tom informed him.

"Mine is unopened" Kate said to Tom. To make it clear she was technically not breaking any rules.

"Turncoat" Tex said dryly as Kate gave him a closed lip smile and a shrug. It had to be the first genuine smile Kate had worn in Tom's presence since boarding the ship.

"Finish up the beer but it's your last until we have on shore R&amp;R" Tom informed Tex. The man nodded as he picked up his beer and took a sip.

"Hopefully by then all the beer should be chilled" Kate quipped.

"Speaking being chilled. XO talk you about the Helo being grounded?" Tom asked Kate, the woman nodded.

"Yes" she said not impressed by the decision obviously but resigned to it.

"Good, last thing I need is the Russians using you as target practice" Tom said, he noted a moment of slight confusion on her face before she nodded again in agreement with him.

"Uh yeah, I agree" Kate said, not sure how to answer as Mike had said nothing about her being grounded having anything to do with the Russians. The man had purposefully left her out of the loop even though she shouldn't be she was surprised at Mike's underhandedness. "Speaking of the Russians, what's the plan?" Kate asked.

"Still working on it" Tom said.

* * *

The next day,

Kate parked herself on the lounge in one of the recreation rooms. It was empty due to ship still being on General Quarters. All ship personnel were either at their stations or getting rest as they needed to stay sharp. Kate being grounded and thus useless as the Helo was not armed for war, she was watching movies until she got bored and then she'd hit the gym. There wasn't much else she could do. She was sure there was a plan in the works on how to get away from the Russians but she was not privy to any of it.

"Hey, what you watching?" Tex asked as he came into the room. He sat himself down on the lounge next to her and looked to screen.

"Operation Petticoat" Kate said, the ship's media library was filled to the brim with movies and TV shows, a lot of them were unsurprisingly Naval related.

"Any good?" Tex asked as he stepped over her legs as her feet were propped on the coffee table as she ate a bag of chips.

"It's alright, it has Cary Grant in it" Kate said with a shrug as she watched the screen and ate a chip.

"Why do women like him?" Tex asked. Tex was obviously one of those people who liked to talk through the movie, or so Kate was assuming as they never had a chance to do such an activity together until now.

"Why do you like McHale's Navy?" Kate asked him, she offered him a chip.

"It's a classic" Tex informed her as if she would be stupid to think otherwise. He snagged a chip and ate it while he looked up at the screen.

"Cary Grant is self deprecating, he also has a sexy voice and kind eyes" She told Tex, she looked at him with a smile as he frowned and stood up abruptly.

"Alright. I'm going to the gym" he told her.

"Bailing out on me?" Kate asked mockingly.

"A movie with a pink submarine? Yes and I don't want to sit here and talk about men. So I'm out of here before you ask me to start braiding your hair" he told her.

"What not interested in a pillow fight?" Kate asked mockingly.

"With the way you punch? I'd probably end up with a concussion" Tex told her, Kate laughed.

"Fine, go" She told him. He stepped over her legs as he made his way to the exit. He stopped at the door and turned back to her.

"Are you really going to sit here all day and watch movies?" he asked her, Kate looked over to him and gave a shrug.

"Not much else for me to do. I'm not exactly in the loop of what's going on with the ship" Kate told him.

"Really? I thought you'd be in the thick of it" He said surprised.

"I'm qualified to do one thing on this ship and it's fly a Helo." Kate told him.

"You're a damn good soldier" he told her.

"Yeah me and every other person on this ship is a soldier but I am an outsider." Kate said, she looked at him for a minute as he pondered her statement. "Hey, you ok?" she asked him feeling remiss as a friend for not asking him sooner.

"Yeah" he said.

"I mean about what happened in Gitmo before the Nathan James arrived. We haven't talked about it yet" Kate said referring to Tex's friends that had been killed. They hadn't even had a informal funeral to acknowledge his loss. In fact he had glossed over the details completely.

"Fine" he said a little too tightly. Kate knew from the response he was in fact the opposite but he wasn't ready to open up and she was not going to push it.

"If you ever want to talk. I'm here" she told him. He gave her a smile as it was an offer he extended to her when Jack had died.

"I'll keep that in mind" he said before he left Kate to her movie.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"Hey, get up" Tex told her. Kate had been sleeping through a shockingly boring movie when Tex nudged her feet off the coffee table, waking her with a start when her feet thumped to the floor.

"What's going on?" Kate asked as she stretched her arms above her head and stretched. She was wondering if she was beginning to learn to sleep through the alarms as Tex looked piss which meant something serious had happened as he was a rather even tempered person.

"Follow me" he said, she followed him in silence until they were standing at the back of the ship. Tex gripped the railing and looked out to the horizon as a rig with what looked like 6 or 7 people went zooming across the water.

"See that rig out there?" Tex asked her. Kate watched the rig grow smaller as it moved farther away from the ship.

"Yeah" Kate said, not sure why it was significant to Tex. She turned her back to the view and leaned against the railing and looked at Tex.

"They are searching for two bodies, Lieutenant Green lost two of his men." Tex told her. Kate felt bad for the Lieutenant as he had lost all of his team bar one man and the dog. That was some shit luck the man had or good if you looked at it in the way that he was still alive. Either way she wasn't going to comment out loud on the subject.

"Russians?" Kate asked knowing that it was the most logical conclusion as Lieutenant Green's men were not inept at their jobs.

"Yeah, we were surveying the canal to use it as an exit strategy from the bay to avoid a confrontation with thr Russians when they sent a team to kill our guys and the Captain let them get away with it" Tex told her, his anger quite evident as he obviously disagreed with the Captains decision.

"I'm sure there was more to it than that" Kate told him as she knew there was more to the story than Tex was sharing.

"Yeah, it's all about making a point when we should have blown their guys out of the water. We're living in a Dog eat dog world now and he wants to negotiate" he said in angry disdain.

"Is this really about what happened just right now?" Kate asked him, she didn't know all the dirty details of what happened in Gitmo the months he and his team were there. But she did know, that he released high value prisoners thinking of giving them a chance due to the current world climate. Only to have said decision to be turned against him. His team, his friends were dead because of one decision to be humane, when others would have just killed the prisoners and hauled up for rescue. She knew it would have been a democratic decision to release the prisoners but that obviously didn't absolve him from his guilt otherwise he wouldn't be so angry right now.

"What you mean?" he asked obviously not making the connection, Kate gave him a look.

"I'll be blunt. You let the prisoners go and they turned on you and your team. Do you not see how this correlates to now?" Kate asked him, she could see that Tex was leaning towards a more biblical stand point of an eye for an eye. Something that never ended well. She couldn't talk about Tom's views or his reasons as Kate hated to speculate and she didn't know all the facts.

"You think-" Tex started but was cut off when Burk interrupted him. Kate was thankful as she really didn't want to fight with Tex.

"Hey, Tex" Burk shouted. Tex turned away from Kate to the soldier, whatever he was going to say would be forgotten or said at a later time.

"Yeah?" Tex asked Burk, as the man came to a stop before them and he gave a nod of acknowledgement to Kate before he spoke to Tex.

"Captain requires you on the bridge" Burk told him. Tex gave a humourless laugh which Kate interpreted to mean that he was not in the mood to see Tom but would anyway. It was the rules of the ship, if you didn't have a function on the ship then your ass was turfed. Whether that was true remained to be seen.

"Good luck" Kate told Tex as she shoved his shoulder to make him move.

"For what?" Tex asked her incredulously.

"For whatever the Captain's going to ask you to do. I probably won't see you until after it's happened. So do me a favour and don't be too stupid out there" Kate advised him. Tex shot her an incredulous look and smiled nonetheless before he walked away.

* * *

Kate spent the rest of her day, trying to take her mind off of Tex. She was worried about him, he was usually pretty even tempered at least from what she remembered. She'd never seen him lose his cool but he obviously rained it in because he dropped by the gym when she had been going for a run to fill her in on what he was doing and to apologise for earlier. Though she wasn't entirely sure what he was apologising for. But she appreciated him filling her in on what he was doing and why. It gave her an understanding of what was happening on the ship.

She hadn't realised it but she had been holding a lot of tension inside from being on the outside of the loop. She understood completely why she wasn't briefed on everything. She was a passenger and if she started making demands she could already predict what Tom and Mike would say. Especially Mike and she didn't want to come off as though she was entitled and bratty.

So she kept her course of being as unobtrusive as possible for the rest of the afternoon. She finished her run, showered, had dinner, she followed it with a nap for about two hours before she woke up agitated and needing to move. So she got out of her bunk and changed into her yoga pants, white racerback crop top and grey loose off the shoulder ¾ jumper over the top. She tossed on some socks and her sneakers. She grabbed her yoga paws and hair tie before she headed to the gym.

When she got there, she found two guards posted at the door. When she tried to get past them, one of them held up a hand to stop her. "Ma'am, the gym is off limits" he told her.

"Why?" She asked, she heard Dr Tophet shouting but his words were muffled by the walls so she wasn't sure what he was saying.

"Lassiter" tom said, Kate turned on her feet and took in his angry expression. She wondered what was going on because last she checked the Captain never sequested the Gym to himself and Dr Tophet's shouting lent her to think she definitely missed something while she was asleep.

"Captain" She replied in a casual manner.

"Gym is in use" he told her. Kate gave a closed lipped smile as she was tempted to make a scarcastic comment but held her tongue taking another tactic.

"What's going on?" Kate asked him as she was genuinely curious. He looked surprised for a moment before donning his usual poker face when shit hit fan and Kate had a feeling she was the only person who didn't know what was going on. A feeling she was definitely struggling to be blasé about.

"It's just a minor situation. Nothing to worry about except that you will not be getting access to the gym." he told her as he took hold of the door handle.

"Ok, can I go workout in the Helo bay?" she asked as she felt the need to ask for permission. He gave a nod.

"by all means" he told her, he opened the door and Kate tried to get a look at what was going on but Tom slipped in too quickly and had closed the door before she could see anything to tell her what was going on.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Kate none the wiser to what was going on only that Tophet was in trouble and everything had something to do with the Russians. It truly sucked that she had no power or rank on the ship to allow her to privy to information as the crew were all unusually tight lipped. So she hadn't bothered asking any questions before going to the Helo bay to practice yoga. Exercise was her stress buster and it turned her thoughts off the situation.

She was halfway through a relaxing yet rigorous practice when she heard the side interior door to the Helo bay open. She looked over her shoulder as she was in Warrior's pose and saw Rachel step into the room.

"I was wondering where you were" Rachel said it sounded rather awkward like she hadn't mean to search out Kate yet here she was.

"Yeah, the gym was occupied. I think the Captain and the XO are torturing your friend Tophet" Kate said half jokingly as she stretched her arms out, enjoying the slight burn in her muscles as they worked to stay in control.

"He is not my friend, so the Captain and Commander can do whatever they want to him" Rachel said in a cutting tone.

"Oh, I thought he was" Kate said, casually as she noted she had struck a rather raw nerve with Rachel.

"He was until he tried to kill us all" Rachel said, she pressed a palm to her forehead and began pacing the floor looking completely shocked to her core.

"Sorry, what?" Kate asked as she turned her palms to face forward and then transitioned into triangle pose. She should stop practicing yoga and listen with her full attention but she didn't want to. Her confusion seemed to set Rachel off as the woman started to rant at her about the whole story of what happened.

Though it wasn't entirely concise as Rachel kept back tracking to the part about how Tophet had been her colleague for 10 years and what he had tried to do was 'unfathomable' even with his reasons.

"-I'm in utter disbelief about that. He was deliberately working with the Russians" Rachel started to rant as she still couldn't believe what had happened. Repeating exactly what she had told the Captian as he had looked at her as if she were just as guilty as Quincy in his deception. She thought she had only just earned his trust and now this. She didn't even want to think of how they all nearly died because of his desperation to get his family to safety.

She voiced all her thoughts, well they just fell out of her mouth on their own volition as she processed it and paced the floor all the while Kate practised yoga. Just that made Rachel pull up short and turn to look at the woman.

"How can you be practising yoga right now after everything that I have told you?" Rachel asked her incredulously. The Captain had given her a steely gaze that made her defensive, Kate's lack of visible interest in the subject matter was also incredibly unnerving as she didn't know what she was thinking.

"It's relaxing and usually I do it in the gym late at night because the crew is busy or asleep so I don't have to worry about anyone staring at my arse. It ruins my concentration" Kate said as she transitioned into another posture. "Anyway you seemed like you needed someone to talk at instead of too" Kate told her, as if she resigned herself to listen no matter what.

"That's not entirely true" Rachel told her, she didn't have many allies but she counted Kate as one. She did not want to jeopardize that by being unfeeling towards her. Though she had to acknowledge that she had just spoken to Kate like she were a wall with ears.

"It's cool, I don't mind. We all gotta vent at someone from time to time" Kate said as she settled into the downward dog posture and raised her right leg up in the air with her toe pointed into three legged downward dog. She adjusted her hands ever so slightly, so the weight was more evenly distributed before relaxing into it.

"So you're going to just do yoga until all of this is over?" Rachel asked her, the woman sounded completely stressed out.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do" Kate said trying not to laugh and she held her leg up and tried to lift it a little higher while maintaining the form. "There is nothing else I can do and I'm not going to go moseying around CIC or the Bridge, I'd just get in the way" Kate said before taking a slow and easy breath.

"I just can't stand here and not know what's going on" Rachel told her.

"Look I get that but we're only going to get in the way. Just stay here, relax and join me if you want. I'll keep my postures at beginner level while we let the navy and Tex do what they do best" Kate offered as she lowered her raised foot back to the floor. Rachel shook her head or so Kate assumed as she couldn't see her.

"Yoga is not my stride" Rachel said as she paced the floor the floor again.

"I know get it's hard feeling useless but there are things they can only do and vice versa. It's something you'll have to get used to." Kate told her, but Rachel did not agree.

"I'm going to the Bridge" Rachel told her in a snap decision as she refused the be kept on the outside.

"Ok but hug the walls" Kate advised her as she transitioned from downward dog posture into to push up and slowly lowered her body to the floor.

"You're not coming with me?" Rachel asked, Kate rolled onto her back and looked at Rachel, the woman clearly decided she was going to the Bridge and she wanted Kate with her; whether Kate wanted to or not. Kate gave a sigh and caved as she knew a big part of her just wanted to know for once what was going on.

"Fine, I'll come with you but for the record. We're going to get yelled at" Kate told her as she pulled off her yoga grips and got up off the floor before she moved to her sneakers. She pulled on her socks and sneakers on and then her jumper before gesturing for Rachel to take the lead.

* * *

When they made it to the bridge, Kate tugged Rachel back so they were not in the way. Rachel had clearly been ready to walk right into the fray of things but Kate knew it would only cause a distraction. Something none of them needed. Rachel stepped forward not heeding Kate's subtle advice and watched anxiously. It definitely tipped off the crew as they lifted their heads momentarily to see them. Kate however did not move a muscle from the wall she had leaned against. She folded her arms across her chest and looked on with a calm resignation. Whatever was going to happen good or bad would happen so there was no point in stressing over the outcome. She had faith the Captain and his crew to do their best to the end to save their collective asses. She being among them hoped for a positive outcome.

* * *

"-When the Master chief's back on board. Take in all lines. Everyone watch the clock. We're timing this down to the second" Tom told the bridge. They had both finished briefing the bridge on their plan and added in a pep talk to remind them that even though they were a young crew the Captain and he had all the confidence that would be successful. It was why they trained all the time, just so when a situation like this arose, they would be confident of a positive outcome.

"Aye sir" the bridge crew including Mike said as they looked down to their watches making sure they were synced. Before they went back to prepping.

Mike looked over his shoulder as he sensed an audience. He wasn't surprised to see Dr Scott, the woman was nosey but Kate was a surprise as she had never been game enough to step on the bridge uninvited until now.

At least Kate kept the wall and out the way. Dr Scott looked like she was barely keeping her panic in check, though listening to the crew talk about their lack of experience at dead reckoning was not exactly inspiring confidence. But then how would the woman be able to understand when she didn't know what they were doing. He looked at Kate and knew she understood what was going on due to her military background.

She gave him a nod of her head. The way she held herself with a quiet and steady confidence that made him wonder why she ever gave up the military as she had the grit to be a Commander even if her leadership skills needed some work. But now was not the time to thinking about her, he sat forward in his chair and looked out the front of the bridge before picked up the radio receiver.

"Master Chief you about ready?" Mike asked over the radio.

"_Yes, sir, on your order"_ the Master Chief's voice said over the line. Mike looked to Tom to make the call. Tom gave the slightest nod and Mike picked up the phone receiver for CIC.

"Prepare to go M-CON Alpha one, I say again. All radar and radio transmissions go down on my count." Mike said, he looked at his watch "3...2…1... Now" he ordered, he looked to the back half of the bridge and watched as half the consoles turned off.

They all waited in a tense silence, as if expecting for the worst to happen. Without radar or sonar they had no idea if their planned worked or if the Russians would attack. If the Russians did attack then they probably wouldn't know it until the missile hit them. After a few moments, Mike hung up the phone receiver as Granderson looked to Tom.

Mike had been darting looks between Tom and Kate, their unwavering confidence in the face of an unpredictable situation like this was interesting to the part of him that was an avid observer of people's behaviour. It was also slightly unnerving being stared at when he was not entirely in charge. He just executed the orders, he didn't make them whilst Tom was on the bridge.

"Sir all crew are back on board" Granderson informed Tom. The man paused briefly before he spoke in a clear and concise manner.

"Lt Granderson, all ahead at one third 3 knots make it course one three five, engage prairie masker" Tom ordered.

"Aye sir" Granderson said she turned her attention to thetwo sailors at the helm controls "Helmsman, come to course one three five, all ahead at 3 knots" she ordered, reciting the same course and speed Tom had given her.

The man at helm controls repeated the instructions and acknowledge them out loud before he and his partner did as instructed. Mike heard the engines slowly powered up and felt the ship began to move steadily away from the port. They had managed to jump one of the many hurdles of the night. He only hoped the rest of the plan held together with the same success.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

It was as impressive as it was nerve wracking to watch what was happening on the bridge. Crew members continually shouted out and repeated calculations necessary for the navigator to keep adjusting the course of the ship. Kate was quietly glad the only thing she ever had to guide was a Helo. Sure it was tough but manoeuvring a ship this large without radar or sonar was not what Kate would consider an easy feat. She slowly moved to the left side of the bridge to watch the action and because it got her out of the pathway of the crew. It also put her out of Mike's direct eye line something she needed as he kept looking at her as if expecting her to do something which was making her nervous considering she couldn't help or do anything but observe.

Kate folded her arms and kept a calm expression plastered on her face. When Master Chief came into the bridge and relieved the crewman she had been standing next to. He stopped next to her taking the vacant spot. She half expected him to kick her off the bridge but instead he gave her a brief nod before he turned his attention to what was happening in the room. Like her as there was not much else he could do until orders were given out.

Mike listened as Gator informed Tom about the depth between the ship's hull and the sea floor and looked to his friend for a moment as everything was down to the clock. A lot was hanging on this plan to work but Mike couldn't help but feel like something was going to go wrong. It was Lieutenant Green's objection to Lt Foster going as a decoy. His excuse was barely adequate and vaguely disrespectful to the woman's capabilities. It raised a red flag for him, which obviously showed on his face as the Lieutenant backtracked and became adamant that he should take point.

It just didn't sit well, that and the fact they were the lynchpin to the plan. If they didn't complete their mission then the Nathan James would rip its hull on the coral and it would be game over for them all.

Two radio clicks sounded over the comm. Mike felt a small sense of relief as it signalled the rig with Lt Green and Foster hurtled towards the Russians to create a distraction was nearing their target which in turn meant they were closing in for the critical stage of their plan.

"That's it they're in open waters 500 yards, out ten knots" Mike said, he pulled his binoculars from their holder and raised them up to his eyes to look to the hill which would show just a slight the glow of the explosion when Green and Foster completed their mission. Every second that passed felt like an hour.

"Calculated impact in 5 minutes" Lt Granderson announced the bridge. Mike lowered the binoculars and looked at Tom. The man had nerves of steel as he had his game face on, Mike wished he could share the same sense of confidence.

"We don't blast the coral until Green and Foster have reached their target. We wait until we see their blast is that clear?" Tom asked the crew in a stern tone, it told everyone that he expected no other outcome.

"Aye Sir" the crew said in unison.

* * *

A few minutes passed by painfully slow minutes, they edged closer and closer to the coral, the tension on the bridge built. He looked around the room checking how the crew was handling the situation. They were performing admirably and keeping it together. Dr Scott looked like she was about expire from the anticipation, he wished he could see Kate but she had moved out of his eyeline and to look over at her would only draw attention. So he told himself he didn't need to look at her as she would be just like Tom. Quietly confident. Calm. The kind of outward attitude that needed to be shown on the bridge because he was sure if anyone panicked it would just infect the others and then mistakes would be made.

"Ruskov should see them by now. Let's hope he buys it" Mike said breaking the silence as it was too quiet on the bridge.

"He already thinks he won" Tom said as Mike looked out the window with the binoculars.

Three clicks sounded over the radio.

"Here we go" Mike said as three clicks meant any minute now the rig would hit the side of the Russian ship and blow a hole in the side creating the distraction for them to blow up the coral and slide through the canal and back out to the ocean.

"OOD based on a good fix holds us at 20 yards left of track"

"helmsman come right 5 degrees rudder" Lt Granderson said.

"Right 5 degrees rudder aye" The helmsman said before he adjusted course. Kate took a slow and easy breath

Tom picked up phone receiver from the console in front of him and brought it to his ear. "T.A.O. I'm going to need you to blast that coral what's your status?" He asked.

"_Torpedo is armed ready, firing bearing set_" came over the comm. Tom acknowledge the information and checked his watch. Time was nearly up. He leaned forward in his chair and held the phone receiver in his hands. It was crunch time.

Mike looked at his watch noting that the 5 minute mark had passed and there had yet to be an explosion.

"Something happened" he said stating something he wished he didn't have to but it had to be said out loud. He'd rather announce he saw the lights of an explosion but apparently their luck was beginning to run out. He just wished now hadn't been the time.

"Impact is overdue Sir" Lt Granderson said to Tom informing him of the obvious and reinforcing the assumption that something had gone wrong. Tom closed his eyes and dropped his head slightly as if he were silently praying.

"I don't see anything. Where are they?" Mike said voicing his concern as he looked out to the ridge waiting for the glow to signify the explosion. The tension in the bridge hit a new level as it was clear the plan was falling apart and they needed to regroup and go to Plan B. Something Mike nor Tom wanted to resort to but at this point they didn't have much of a choice as they were going to sink the Nathan James if they kept their current course. The whole crew knew and were now getting anxious.

"Hang on" Tom told the crew.

"Sir, that canal is too tight to turn around and I can't slow down without losing manoeuvrability. We have to blast that coral Sir. Or it will tear us apart" Gator told him bluntly.

"Hang on" Tom said. Kate looked to Master Chief as the man grabbed hold of a handle on coming from the ceiling. It had to be 'Oh shit' handle much like the ones they put in the passenger side of the car above the door. The handle you grabbed to brace yourself for something horrific. It wasn't comforting especially since there wasn't one for her to grab hold of.

"Come on" Mike said under his breath as he looked to the ridge. Kate kept her stance and folded her arms a little tighter. She took a deep breath to calm her own nerves before she looked to Rachel. The woman was scared, Kate didn't blame her. Being on the bridge was intense to begin with but now they were practically chocking on the tension and the fear as it was apparent that the plan was not working out so great. Especially after Gator's lovely announcement about Coral tearing up the ship's hull.

"We're going to hit the coral in 15 seconds" Lt Granderson announced out loud, Kate wondered if the woman had to announce the obvious for a purpose or if she was just pushing Tom to make a decision. He had been sitting in his chair looking like he was praying for the past few minutes. Praying never worked for her but Kate just hoped whatever higher power he believed in would come through for him as it meant they would all win.

"Hang on" Tom repeated, in a stern and calm tone like he were dealing with an unruly child and vainly trying to keep the upper hand.

"10 seconds" Lt Granderson said and Kate wished she hadn't as they were all capable of counting down 15 seconds silently in their heads.

"Come on" Mike mumbled under his breath.

_8…7…6…5…_

"Sir, explosion reported off the –" a crewman shouted reporting the location of the explosion but Tom didn't wait for the rest of the information before Tom raised the receiver to his head.

"Fire torpedos!" Tom ordered, the bridge became a flurry of activity as trajectories were triple checked and course heading was announced and confirmed. The sound of the torpedo sounded as it exited the ship. A couple seconds later a loud explosion of water appeared a few feet in front of the ship's bow. The ship kept its steady pace and the crew shouted across information about explosion and the target being hit and then silence fell.

If the tension wasn't bad enough before, now it was extreme to the point Kate felt the restless need to pace but she held her spot. The ship continued to move forward and everyone seemed to stop breathing as the sound of metal groaning sounded. Kate knew that sound well enough to know that they hadn't cleared enough coral.

The noise was unnerving and about as comfortable to listen to like nails on a chalkboard. The only small saving grace was that no one had reported in that the ship was flooding. Yet. Kate looked around the room, at the faces of the crew no one was making eye contact with anyone. Rachel was staring rather intensely at Tom as the man held his calm and in control demeanour.

After a couple of minutes the groaning noise thankfully stopped, it was only after a few more minutes of silence did Tom and Mike seem to relax. Mike looked over his shoulder at her for just a moment, giving her an unreadable look before he looked over to Tom.

Tom had stepped out his chair to stand and picked up the phone receiver, bringing to his ear.

"DC central damage report" Tom ordered. It was the moment of truth. After a few seconds a voice over the comm replied.

"DC central, Report: No apparent hull damage" a voice announced, the crew on the bridge let out a collective sigh of relief. Kate was one of them as she stepped back from her place and lowered her head letting go of the breath she had been holding. People nodded and the tension that had been thick in the room before evaporated. Tom hung up the phone receiver and turned to Granderson.

"OOD let's pick up our cargo and get the hell out of here" he told her as he headed off the bridge.

"Aye sir, engines ahead two thirds" Lt Granderson said with a smile of relief.

_"Rescue boat moving to extract"_ came over the comm.

Kate looked to Rachel and motioned with her head for them to leave. The woman nodded and they quickly exited the bridge to get out of the way before someone told them off for being there in the first place.

"That was-"

"Impressive" Kate supplied as Rachel looked like she was having trouble finding the right words.

"Intense" Rachel said as they walked down the hallway away from bridge.

"Glad you went?" Kate asked amused to see if Rachel found it easier or harder to stand in the middle of the storm and not know what was going on like they just did or if maybe it was better to stay ignorant until after the event. Kate preferred to stand in the middle of the storm. She'd rather know what was going on than feel completely blind to the situation.

"I'm not too sure about that" Rachel answered, Kate smiled.

"Want to grab a cup of tea. I need to waste sometime before Tex returns" Kate told her, Rachel nodded needing to relax.

"That would be good." Rachel said.

* * *

An hour later,

Kate stood back from the crowd that was congratulating the two lieutenants in their success whilst they and the other parties that been off the ship. Once Tex was on board, it took him a second to zero in on her.

"I'm so flattered, you waited for me" Tex said as if Kate had spent 15 years waiting for him. Kate smiled and shook her head as she came towards him. The small crowd parted for them.

"Just making sure Lassiter Industries doesn't lose another one of its valuable assets" Kate told Tex. He frowned and said.

"Sorry what was that about my ass?" He asked her pretending he hadn't heard her correctly. Kate gave a blank look.

"I think you left it tied up on the dock in Gitmo" Kate told him mockingly innocent as she made it seem like she had mistaken his comment about his backside for 'ass' as in donkey. He chuckled and Kate tilted her head to the side looking at him, glad to see he was completely fine.

"Walk with me" Kate told him with a smile. They moved away from the crowd, letting them continue their celebrations. Once they were a good distance away, Kate leaned on the railing of the deck and looked to Tex.

"Celebratory Cubano?" he asked as he pulled the cigar from his pocket.

"Just this one time" Kate said caving in just this once as she took the cigar. She told herself it was easier to accept it than to refuse. Tex turned to Lieutenant Burk who was walking their way.

"Burk, you want in?" Tex asked as he held out a cigar. The man smiled and nodded.

"Sure, why not?" he said as he joined them.

"Well, I hear its congratulations all round to a job well done" Kate said.

"All we did is watch you guys sail past. Nothing hard about that" Tex said. "Though it did give Burk here time to tell me a tale or two about you" Tex said making conversation. Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked to the Lieutenant.

"To be honest, I didn't realise I even registered on Burk's radar" Kate said looking to Burk with an amused smile. "Do tell me of these stories" she added as she allowed Tex to light her cigar.

"You know they call you a weekend warrior" Tex said bluntly. Kate choked on the first draw of cigar smoke from surprise and annoyance. It was one thing to have a nickname that people called you playfully to your face but the one they said behind your back was a truer definition of what they thought of you.

"With respect" Burk added as if it would soften the blow. Kate had to turn away for a moment just to clear her lungs and when she slightly recovered her ability to breathe turned back. Tex clapped her on the back to help her clear her lungs.

"You alright?" Tex asked her after a couple of good hits to her back. Kate nodded.

"Yep, perfect. I just remember why I quit smoking" Kate rasped and gave nod with watery eyes as he held the cigar out to him.

"Quitting already"

"Some habits are best broken" Kate said, Tex shrugged and pocketed the cigar he had been about to light and took hers. She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes. "Weekend Warrior?" she asked Burk.

"Yeah" Burk said amused before he took a puff of his cigar looking like a man at home with himself.

"Make sure the Captain and the XO never hear you call me that" Kate told him. That snapped him out of his comfort zone.

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because being disrespectful to someone even if they are a civilian tends to be frowned upon" Kate informed him, she couldn't imagine why they would call her a weekend warrior. Sure she didn't hold up a flag and declare her life history to the ship but she thought it was widely known that she had a military background. But it bit that no one even bothered to ask or worse they decided that her past few months of being a complete professional and handling herself rather well didn't sink into their minds.

"Well, no offence was intended Ma'am but you got a chip on your shoulder considering you're just a civilian. Not like you've got any real combat experience" Burk said with a shrug.

"That's misinformation if I ever heard it" Tex said to Kate. "What lies have you been telling these people?" he asked her, something about the question really rubbed her the wrong way.

"I haven't lied to anyone. I'm a Helo pilot who works for Lassiter Industries. Anyway I've been busy with work and keeping to myself because I can't be bothered telling people my life story since I was only supposed to be here for 4 months. One would think the military would be smarter than to let just any pilot operate it's expensive equipment" Kate said to Tex who blew the smoke of his cigar over his left shoulder to be polite so it wouldn't hit her face.

"So defensive" Tex said teasingly.

"Yeah, I am because it appears that people on this boat think I'm a silver spoon fed kid with keys to Uncle Sam's ride." Kate drawled sarcastically. It annoyed her because now she was beginning to think her one flip out damaged what little of a good reputation she had left.

"It's a ship" Tex corrected her, Kate narrowed her eyes at him.

"Really? I thought it was a Space Shuttle and that we were all going to go to Mars tomorrow" Kate dead panned but she shot him a look that could kill which he received loud and clear as he smiled and held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Wow, dial back the aggression. I'm your ally here. Would you like me to run around and correct people?" Tex asked her.

"No, let them be idiots" Kate said losing a touch of her anger.

"Ah one of the idiots is standing right here" Burk said pointing to himself.

"Can I tell him?" Tex asked her eagerly, Kate waved a dismissive hand.

"Sure knock yourself out" Kate told him. Tex smiled and clapped a hand on Burk's shoulder as he held his cigar in the other hand. It made Kate think of the A-team for some reason.

"Son, this lady here dedicated over decade of her life to the Australian Army as Helo Pilot. A weekend warrior, she is not" Tex informed him. It took a moment for it dawn on Burk's features what kind of a faux pas he had made.

"Damn, I'm sorry" Burk said Kate.

"Yeah, I would of told you earlier but I was hoping Red would deck you" Tex said with a smile. The man loved to stir people up.

"I wouldn't have decked him" Kate told Tex with a roll of her eyes.

"I appreciate not getting punched" Burk said.

"Oh you're no fun" Tex said with a pout before he took a puff of his cigar.

"So you two been working in the same company for long?" Burk asked them to change the conversation to a safer topic. Kate didn't mind as she would prefer to move onto happier topic and Tex was always one going for a laugh.

"We never worked together but I was school buddies with her husband who became my boss. But in saying that I've only seen this woman exactly 12 times over the past 3 years-" Tex started but Kate interrupted him.

"He also likes to email me a lot and it's always pictures of kittens wearing berets. So it feels like no time has passed at all between those visits" Kate said with a mocking smile to Tex who shook his head at her while Burk looked at Tex like he was an oddball.

"That's a lie, I send you video links of baby polar bears getting tickled and wombats because I know you love it and it will make you smile especially the wombats" Tex told Kate.

"I forgot your affinity for the word 'Wombat'." Kate sighed. Tex chuckled and turned to Burk with a serious expression on his face.

"I once went to a town named Wombat" Tex told Burk in a tone that said it a way that TV characters on a drama show said they'd been to war and survived something truly heinous when they had the 'wounded soldier' storyline.

"I took you there with Jack. You Nong. So stop making it out to sound like it was Deliverance. It's a lovely town" Kate said defending the township of Wombat to Burk who looked amused by exchange between her and Tex.

"People stopped and stared at us when we walked into the bar" Tex said as if it were the scariest thing to have happened. Kate shook her head and held up a finger.

"One: it was a pub and " She lifted a second finger "two: of course they stared. You're a loud mouth yank and not many tourists go to Wombat. I'm sure they were more afraid of you than the other way round" Kate argued.

"I'm not scary" Tex said, he looked about ready to list out his better qualities but didn't as a young crewman walked up to them. Bringing their conversation to a halt.

"Lt Burk, Captain wants to see you on the Bridge" he said to Burk. The man nodded.

"Ok, well thanks for the cigar. Catch you two another time" Burk told them with an amused smile.

"Later" Kate said, she and Tex watched him walk away for a moment before Tex turned back to her.

"He's too young for you" he told her. It took Kate a moment to realise what he was saying.

"Seriously?" Kate asked, as she couldn't think of how she was once flirtatious towards to Lt Burk but then Tex liked to bait her.

"It's been over a year since Jack departed this life. You shouldn't rebound with a younger man, he'll just fall in love you and you'll have to break his heart and I'll have to listen to him sobbing about you" Tex told her, Kate laughed as the reality of that happening was exceedingly unlikely.

"I'm not interested in a rebound-" she started to say but Tex clapped a hand on her shoulder and interrupted her with a look of understanding.

"It's perfectly healthy to seek a physical connection with another human being after the loss of spouse. We are social creatures made for loving one another"

"Does that line ever work?" Kate asked him incredulously. He smiled in such a smug fashion that she had a feeling it did. But then with his accent and good looks and hard body, he was never lonely for female company.

"Sometimes but just know that if I start looking tasty to you that I'm only going to hug you and nothing more. You're Jack's woman and I never cut into another man's territory especially a friend's" Tex told her. Kate laughed and shook her head at him.

"I'm so glad you cleared the air on that and don't worry, while I'm on this ship; I'm keeping my pants firmly zipped" Kate told him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

A couple of days later,

Mike opened the door to communications room to find Tom sitting at one of the stations with a head set on listening to the SOS calls. He had a bracelet on the table that he was playing with, Mike figured Tom's daughter made it for him. It was starting to become a habit of Tom's to come down and listen to the air waves. Mike wasn't sure if it was healthy to listen to so much despair but someone had to do it.

When Mike stepped in Tom lifted the headset from his head and placed them on the desk in front of him.

"Sent the guys on a break" Tom gave a sigh "figured I'd see what was going on in the outside world" he said looking despondently at the wall before he looked to Mike and said "There's a lot of static"

"Well whatever you hear out there's not going to be particularly uplifting"

"My dad had an Oldham radio set in his cabin I thought maybe Darien was…" Tom paused. "It's our anniversary" Tom confessed, Mike gave a slightest of nods completely understanding why he would want to listen to people's calls for help if it meant the chance of hearing his wife's voice even if he couldn't respond. Mike wished he could hear his daughters voices but a side of him knew as much as he wanted to hear their voice the pain of not being able to reply, of being unable to help would tear him to pieces. It nearly did the first and last time he spoke to them.

"You never come down here" Tom commented.

"Yeah" Mike gave a sardonic chuckle and shook his head as he pulled up a chair and turned it to face him and sat down straddling it. "I don't think Christina's looking for me" he said with a wry smile to cover up his pain, the grief and the absurdity of how Kate had fallen back into his life. It was like some higher power was having a good giggle at his expense. He rested his arms on the back of chair and looked to Tom.

"Come on" Tom said as if Mike was joking. Mike wished he was joking. He really wanted a marriage like Tom's but he and Christina just couldn't seem to get it together something he truly blamed himself for as the more time he saw Kate on the ship the more he realised how over the years he had been silently comparing his wife to Kate and hell he'd been doing it the last few months. He wished he could turn off that part of his brain, that he could just wipe Kate from his memory. No one least of all him needed to be constantly reminded of how happy he had been with a woman who was not his wife or the mother of his children.

"Yeah, well before we left things were pretty ragged between us" Mike said, 'ragged' was an understatement to how he and Christina were. "I finally got her on the phone after we lifted M-COM. She told me about Lucas" Mike drew in a rocky breath as the pain and grief of knowing his son was dead that he had been burying for days was attempting to bubble to the surface. "Losing a son is one thing but dealing with it on your own is just…" he drawled not able to find the words.

"There was nothing you could do" Tom told him, Mike knew he was trying to give him some comfort but his words just burned him as Mike could have done many things and all those scenarios played in his head.

"That is not what she wanted to hear" Mike said, hell he could never say anything that would make it right or salve the wounds. Something which made him angry just thinking about and he realised if he continued to talk, he might be liable to break something and they needed the comm room intact, so he gave a nod "Well, I'll leave you to it" Mike said making a strategic retreat. He rose from his chair and set the chair back into the desk before he turned for the door.

"There's still a chance Mike" Tom said as Mike reached for the door. Mike felt anger flare inside of him, he turned and faced Tom.

"For all of us" Tom told him, Mike wished he could share Tom's blind faith that everything would work out, that they would be able to reunite with their families but he didn't feel it. So instead of beginning a fight be kept his mouth shut and left the room.

* * *

"Look, I gave you a couple days to chill off and think about what happened but now we have to learn to get a long" Kate said as she watched Grodin bench pressing weights in the gym. She folded her arms across her chest as she was sucking up her pride and trying to mend bridges so she could get the Helo back in the air. She was bored, so bored she was close to giving Grodin a heartfelt apology so they could get back to work. Knowing full well 'work' would mean her training him even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Why she couldn't have a co-pilot with years of experience and ego to keep cool under pressure? was a question she was asking herself on a regular basis.

"It's pretty hard to get along with someone so mentally unbalanced" Grodin told her. Kate rolled her eyes as she knew how well the story of 'Poor Grodin nearly getting shot by the crazy Australian' was doing the rounds of the ship. At least Burk had warmed up to her but she had a feeling that he just liked watching her and Tex banter about inane things.

"How old are you?" Kate asked as she sat down on one of the benches beside his. There were only a couple of other people in the Gym but they were using the treadmill.

"23" he told her with a grunt as he continued lifting the weights with his buddy hovering over him to make sure he didn't injure himself.

"Tell me, how long did it take you to get to your illustrious position?" She asked him mockingly.

"Roughly 5 years" he answered.

"Including your degree?" Kate asked.

"Yeah" he said.

"So four years of college and then one year flight school?" Kate asked, she knew this but for some reason it annoyed her that he thought he was King at flying after only a year and 5 months of flying.

"Yeah" he answered.

"What did you get your degree in?" she asked him out of curiosity.

"Science" he told her.

"What kind of science?" Kate asked. He gave her an odd look before he answered.

"Marine Biology" he told her, Kate covered her mouth with her hand as she was trying not hard to laugh. Marine Biology was a hard degree and a hard field to get work in. It was probably why he was a navy pilot but then she was also surprised as she couldn't imagine why he would be here if he liked studying and preserving marine life.

"Really?" She asked, he gave her a dark look as he heard her amusement.

"I didn't want to be a pilot. Ok? But my stepfather is career military and refused to pay for college unless I did my time in the service. Then my Mom weighed in on the subject and it snowballed" he told her.

"So, you're being a pain in my ass because you don't want to be here but Mom and Stepdad plied the pressure on you? Why didn't you just flunk yourself out of flight school or basic training? Go back to Uni on a scholarship, get a masters and then a PhD?" Kate asked him.

"Because I couldn't get a scholarship and I couldn't afford to do my masters or PhD. and I gave my word to the Admiral that I would serve for 3 years and he promised that after the three years my life is my own. I expected with the troops being pulled from Iraq that I'd be kept stateside. Where it's quiet. I also figured it wouldn't hurt to have it on my resume as well as having a pilot's licence. Not like it fucking matters any more" Grodin grumbled as he pushed the weights up and into the rack above his head and sat up to look at her.

"You don't know that. Pilots are probably a rare commodity now" Kate told him with a shrug. It was a lousy consolation prize.

"True" he said though he didn't seem enthused about being a 'rare commodity' and anyway their usefulness would run out as soon as the Helo became either irreparably damaged or they ran out of petrol.

"But don't let it get to your head. You still have a lot to learn and since you have very little natural talent you're going to have to pick up your game" Kate told him.

"Gee thanks but my flight instructor said I was a natural" Grodin told her, as he wiped down the bench and then moved to the bar at the side of the room to do pull ups.

"You're an Admiral's son and your flight instructor was a brown noser who should-"

"You don't know how hard flight school was" Grodin told her, Kate pursed her lips unimpressed with the answer.

"Really? You think I got my pilot's licence from a cornflakes box and walked up to the closest recruitment centre and said 'Hey, look this is cool. Now I'd like to fly a million dollar aircraft because that sounds like an awesome way to spend my weekends'." Kate said in a mocking tone.

"Well, you're a woman. You don't have to jump through any hoops. I'm sure you were a news puff piece to inspire little girls that women can do it all" Grodin told her.

"You want to add misogyny to your repertoire? Cause that will not win you any favours with the women when you're trying to get laid" Kate informed him.

"Whatever" he said with a roll of his eyes.

"You know saying 'Whatever' like that is the equivalent of saying 'Fuck you'. You ever wonder why I pulled that gun on you?" Kate asked him.

"Because you're insane or maybe it's that time of the month?" he offered, Kate paused for a moment to consider his answer.

"No, I haven't even started ovulating yet" She told him, Grodin faulted slightly in his pull up and immediately dropped to the floor.

"Oh my god, I don't need to know that!" he told her, his cheeks red with embarrassment, Kate chuckled.

"You brought it up, obviously to embarrass me. Something which is incredibly hard to do. Anyway, I didn't say you were a bad pilot but you still have a lot to learn especially how you deal with stressful situations and how you control yourself when things go pear shaped. If you're not comfortable with the idea of flying into dangerous situations then tell me now. If you are then it'll save me a lot of bullshit and time" Kate told him. Grodin shook his head at her before he jump up to grab the bar and continue his reps.

"Don't shake your head at me, you think you're the first person to lose their guts after some rough flying? The first panic in a cockpit? Well let me reassure you, you're not. Nor will you be the last fuck up to do so. You'll get over it in time but only if you want to" Kate told him.

"You going to tell me how you overcame your fears? To build up some comradry between us" Grodin asked her.

"No" Kate said making a face at him.

"Let me guess because it didn't happen to you" he said mockingly.

"No, it happened but you're an ungrateful little shit who hasn't earned the right to hear my stories. So you want to be a pilot or not?" She asked him. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for him to answer.

"I got nothing better to do" Grodin told her.

"That's the spirit" Kate said dryly.

"So what now?" he asked her.

"I'm going to go see when we can get some air time for your 'training'." Kate told him.

* * *

"Look, Grodin and I kissed and made up… well we didn't kiss but then the only physical contact I want with that man is my fist connecting with his face. The point being is that we're going to play nice. So can we get some air time?" Kate asked Mike as she followed him through the ship. She had appeared seemingly out of thin air, and been following him for the past five minutes talking non stop.

"No" He said, considering she had given him a wide berth for the last 5 months he had hoped for it to continue but apparently he was not going to get his way in anything at all on this ship. Ok, that was a stretch. He could get his way in stopping Kate from getting what she wanted.

"No?" Kate asked in a dull tone as she hadn't expected that answer.

"You heard me, giving you and Grodin flight hours because you're bored would be a waste of the Nathan James' finite resources" Mike explained, he wouldn't admit it out loud but he did feel a small sense of satisfaction in ruining her day considering the effect she was having on him. He was half tempted to go somewhere off limits to her but he had the feeling she'd just follow him everywhere and anywhere he went today until he said yes to whatever she wanted. It was the way she had said 'there you are' as a greeting that reminded him that of the time she convinced tried to convince him to bungy jump and she had won out in the end. But this time, he wasn't to cave.

"Then tell me what can I do while I'm grounded" Kate said to him, she sidestepped a crewman to allow them to pass before she continued to follow him and talk. "I'm bored and I don't have the patience for being sea-locked on a long term basis" Kate said exasperated, he heard a note of desperation in her tone. He stopped and turned to face her, an amused expression on his face. He had to admit she was starting to act a little more like her old self and he liked it. Even if it was annoying, just like the scent of her vanilla and lime shampoo. Past and present intermeshed for just a moment as he felt tempted to reach out and touch her. But he didn't for more than the obvious reasons.

"Sea-locked is not a word I'm not familiar with" he said folding his arms and looking down at her attire with a critical eye as he knew if he found faults then he wouldn't see the beauty. Kate lifted her chin up and locked eyes with him. She was dressed in her usual white t-shirt and skinny black jeans and combat boots with her long red hair hung loose around her shoulders. Explained why he could smell the scent of her shampoo.

"I'm getting restless." Kate told him. _You're not the only one,_ he thought grimly as he reminded himself of the wedding ring on his finger.

"I realised that when I noticed how the wardroom was glaringly reorganized this morning" he told her, in fact the wardroom looked like it had been scrubbed to an inch of its life. He liked a clean wardroom but what he walked into this morning was extreme cleaning. Finally he could latch onto something that annoyed him as he didn't like the fact that she cleaned the room without asking first.

"I tidied up. There was no reorganising unless you count moving a salt shaker 2 millimetres to the left reorganising. I know how anal you can be about that stuff being out of place" Kate told him in a low voice.

"Everything has a place and you disassembled and cleaned the coffee machine" Mike complained. No one disassembled the coffee machine and cleaned it. It was like tempting fate and the last thing this ship needed was the coffee machine to breakdown.

Kate made a face that was a mix of frustration and disbelief. It was cute but it didn't soften his annoyance as she was supposed to ask permission before she cleaned or dismantled anything on the ship. Lord only knew what she was going to clean next.

"It was filthy, I'm pretty sure I found remains of a dead rat inside it" Kate told him being dramatic. Mike shook his head as he knew she was lying… well at least about the dead rat. The part about the coffee machine being filthy was probably true even though they cleaned the filter and the pot regularly.

"No,you didn't" Mike said calling her bluff. Kate threw up her hands.

"Ok, I didn't but instead of the coffee tasting like month old burnt battery acid it now tastes like coffee. It's delicious" Kate told him with a smug smile.

"No, it tastes-" he was about argue that he preferred the old coffee. It had taken him months to get used to its acidic and bitter flavour and he he enjoyed the burn but it was gone now. But Kate cut him off.

"Amazingly like fresh coffee which is delicious! I know, do we have to take a poll? I'll do it because I'm sure everyone one will agree the coffee is better. I need something to do" She whined, Mike wished she would stop saying 'do' as all he could think of was all the things he used to 'do' to her and how very tempted he was to 'do' them again. It was the downside of their talking and slipping into old habits that should be long dead as he found the innuendo in practically everything that came out of Kate's mouth.

"I'm not the activities director" he told her in a dry tone at which she rolled her eyes. He turned around and continued to walk away, not sure of his direction anymore as he wanted to lose Kate and figured the only way to do that was to either tire her out, so he kept walking.

"I realise this is a naval ship and not the P&amp;O. I know what we're doing here is not a booze cruise of the islands, it's why I'm not donning a bikini and looking for a Mai Tai and SPF50 sunblock" Kate said images of Kate in her dark grey bikini and aviator sunnies lying on the beach flittered through his mind was something he didn't need. He shook his head as if to shake the image away and focussed on what she was saying "…What I was thinking was that I could make a flight simulator but it will require some imagination and-"

"Equipment and supplies from other sections of the ship" Mike stated interrupting her as making a flight simulator even the most basic would be near impossible given the current situation.

"Yeah, only temporarily" Kate said her tone hopeful.

"No" he told her, flat out.

"Ok well are there any duties on board that I could perform? You know stuff that could give others a break. Grunt stuff like cleaning. I could swab the deck" Kate suggested, Mike snorted as he was tempted to say they lived in the 21st Century the days of swabbing decks went out when they stopped building ships made out of wood but felt it would open up a whole new discussion he didn't want to have.

"You've been watching too many pirate movies" he informed her.

"All I can do on this ship when I'm not flying; is clean, exercise, beat a crewman at playstation or watch movies. The Helo bay is organised and so clean you could eat off the floors. The Helo probably hasn't seen so much TLC in its life until now which reminds me-" Kate started he knew she was going to ask for something so he cut her off.

"Fill out a requisition form and give it to the Chief of Engineer" Mike told her.

"Ok, well that leads me back to my original problem of having nothing to do" Kate told him.

"Do you know what my job is on this ship?" Mike asked her, he wondered if she realised that he had walked them around the ship twice in a large circle yet as they passed a couple of crewman for the second time earning them an odd look.

"Yes, I do and I am trying to be helpful on the ship" Kate told him.

"Helpful would be you going back to avoiding me and being unobtrusive" he told her.

"Yeah, it got boring and I realised we could stuck on this ship for a very long time together. So we have to talk-" Kate stopped mid sentence as the lights flickered and the engines slowed down. It was not a good sign in general but provided him an out from talking with Kate.

"Look at that saved by yet another crisis" Mike said as he changed direction and headed towards the bridge. He had a feeling Kate was talking about their past. That they couldn't ignore it or the fact that they had unfinished business with one another, it was like an elephant in the room that he wasn't ready to acknowledge.

"You and I can't avoid this forever" Kate told him as she continued to follow him.

"I think we can" Mike said as he called the bridge for a status update on his radio.

"No, we can't. At some point you and the Captain-" Kate started but he cut her off.

"When did the Captain get involved?" Mike asked her, he half listened to the reply to his query from the bridge and wondered when Tom became mixed up in their business.

"Gee, I don't know but I'd like some more responsibilities on the ship, I would also like to know what the hell is going on" Kate told him. Relief washed over him as he didn't know why he had thought she meant talking about their history. He really needed to screw his head on straight.

"It's a need to know on a basis by basis situation" he said blandly as it was a non answer. He clicked his radio telling the bridge he acknowledging the information about the engines overheating and telling that he was on his way.

"Do you know what I was doing when France got vaporised?" Kate asked him after he finished talking to the bridge.

"No" he said as he climbed up the stairs to the next level as he continued to the bridge.

"I nearly concussed myself on the stupid bunk bed frame from waking up to the alarm" Kate told him, Mike threw a confused look over her shoulder as he didn't think it was possible to do such thing.

"Seriously?" He asked, Kate gave him a glower look.

"Yes, I have a freakishly long torso and long thighs. It's where my height comes from. The point being is that I need more to do and I need to be in the loop of what's going on. I don't need a blow by blow but to be nice to be kept up to date instead of 'hey, briefing in 5' and walking completely blind into the situation." Kate told him, her grievance with her situation evidently clear. He could empathise with her frustration as he hadn't given much thought to how she was doing.

Correction, he had blatantly been ignoring it which right now made him feel a little guilty as she wasn't being a useless pain in his ass or complaining too much. She was just trying to be helpful and be involved, something he didn't want to recognise but had to as she could be valuable asset to them besides just being their Helo pilot.

"I'll speak with the Captain and the Master Chief" he told her.

"Thank you" Kate said, and apparently it was all she needed to hear because when he looked over his shoulder she was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Mike stood at the head of the table in the wardroom whilst the senior staff members sat around the table along with Kate and Tex. He didn't boot Tex or Kate out as he felt it would save him some time if they were told what was going on a long with the others. Thus he briefed the room on the current situation of the engine issues and water restrictions, he wanted the members in the room to keep an eye on their departments and keep them posted on the condition of the crew. It was supposed to be a quick briefing.

"These water restrictions are-" Mike stopped mid sentence as he noticed that Lt Green talking in a low tone and a couple of other lieutenants were looking rather amused than paying attention to him and what he was saying. It was already uncomfortably warm in the room as the air conditioning was linked to the engines. With the engines barely running, the ship was getting hotter. So he'd rather get the briefing over with as soon as possible as he was already sweating in his BDUS and he wasn't the only one in the room going by the lovely aroma settling unsavourily in the air.

"Lieutenant Green you want to share whatever you said that was so entertaining to the others?" Mike asked.

"Sir-" Lieutenant Green looked slightly reticent to say whatever it was out loud.

"Don't be shy, since you seemed to think whatever it is, is more important than this briefing. Why don't you share with class so we can all have a good laugh" Mike said in a patronising manner.

"I was just saying how this will be an eye opening experience for Lassiter and Dr Scott. They will learn what it's like to be more than weekend warriors" Lt Green said with a shrug, his tone was clear that he felt like Dr Scott and Kate had pampered lives. He clearly proud of his ignorant and blatantly disrespectful comment as he gave a closed lip smile that was smug as he probably assumed Mike would give a glib reply of agreement.

But he was wrong as Mike was in a bad mood. He was already pissed off that he wouldn't be able to have another coffee until more water was found. Sure he was rude and disrespectful to Kate and Dr Scott but he now realised that his behaviour was setting a tone he didn't like being mimicked in the lower ranks.

"I can assure you Lieutenant, that I have survived more dire situations than our current one" Kate assured Green with a patronising smile. Tex smothered a laugh as he looked down at the table obviously the man knew Kate's history which why he was try not to laugh.

"I can only imagine" Lt Green said in an equally patronising tone. Sweat rolled down the back of Mike's neck.

"With over a decade of dedicated military service, I would think dealing with this situation is right in Lassiter's wheelhouse. Now, are you finished Lt Green or do you have more to add? because I would like to continue with the briefing so we can all get back to our duties" Mike told him, he didn't wait for a reply before he opened the file he had brought and read out the water restrictions about to be set in place.

* * *

"What was that?" Tex asked Kate after the briefing had finished and a severely chastised looking Lieutenant Green left the room with his head down. Mike hadn't exactly given the man a smack down but it had definitely shown that Lieutenant Green had successfully put his foot in his mouth and Mike would not tolerate anyone questioning Kate's abilities. Frankly, she expected Mike to let it slide instead he practically gave her a glowing review and placed her on a pedestal. Something she hadn't expected and she was kind of pissed that he did it because now people were going to wondered how Mike knew that about her. No one would think 'Hey, he read her personnel file'. No, they'd think something else, that there was history there and then it had to be bad history because they weren't exactly best friends either.

"It was a briefing, honestly Tex. You've been out of the corps for only a decade but I'm sure you can remember what they were like" Kate said teasingly as she picked up her water bottle with her name written on it, that had been filled with water for her.

"No, I mean Commander Slattery just jumping to your defence and calling you a hero. I thought he hated you" Tex said as he took a sip of what would be his last coffee for a while. Kate turned around and leaned a hip on the bench as she looked to him.

"He didn't say I was a hero and Lt Green was being disrespectful" Kate said, wishing they could change the topic.

"You didn't reprimand Burk and you've kept quiet about your past" Tex said, he sounded suspicious and a little disappointed.

"I've kept a low profile. You know military are usually pissed off when civilian contractors come in" Kate said with a shrug.

"Bullshit" he said with a smile.

"Let it go Tex" she told him.

"We're in an extreme situation, you have valuable exp-"

"I'm flying the Helo, it's all they need me to do" she said cutting him off.

"You're a brilliant tactician-" he started to argue but she cut him off once again.

"But I know nothing about naval warfare and no one is going to listen to someone who was the equivalent of a lieutenant. You know, I would have been a Major if I hadn't been such an underachiever" Kate told him with a wry smile, she felt maybe if she had reached that rank before resigning then she could have at least something more than her piloting skills to offer.

"I thought it was that you crashed too many Helos" Tex said with a chuckle before he grew serious "Though I have to ask what about helping them out with assistance from Lassiter Industries?" he asked.

"It's complicated" Kate said uncomfortably.

"You mean besides the fact we'd have to break radio silence?" Tex said, Kate nodded.

"Yeah, I don't exactly have full access to the company systems and I would need to talk to Evan to find out what is left or more like what is operational and where in position to where we are now" Kate said uncomfortably, when she had spoken to Evan he had mentioned that it would be wise for her to have full access to Lassiter's satellite system but then Kate would have to explain how morally and ethically ambiguous Evan ran the company and she wasn't ready to get shouted at nor did she think there was anything in Lassiter Industries that could possibly help the ship.

"I'm sure the Captain would be interested" Tex said sitting back in his chair. The man didn't really know much about the entirety of what Lassiter Industries did or what projects it was involved in but he wasn't stupid.

"There are legal grey areas-"

"The world has gone to shit, I doubt they're going to make you walk the plank" Tex said incredulously. Kate scrubbed a hand down her face and gave an aggravated sigh.

"It's not that easy, these people are straight laced. They follow rules and laws set down by a government that no longer exists. Anyway, there is no way in hell we are going to break radio silence for anything. So this argument is moot" Kate told him.

"Alright, but I think you should tell them" He told her.

"I'll keep it in mind, when I think it's pertinent. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything" Kate said making a compromise, Tex nodded.

"Ok, well I think we should head outside where it's cooler" Tex told her as he rose from his chair.

"Go ahead, I need to change into some lighter clothing" Kate told him.

"I don't think anyone would mind if you striped down to your underwear" he said with a smile.

"I'm glad to hear that" Kate replied in a dry tone.

* * *

Hours later,

Night had fallen and it was hot like an oven inside and only a few degrees cooler outside the ship. Too hot to sleep and the constant stopping and starting of the engines was starting to grate on Kate's nerves. She understood they were limping to Serrana bank, there was no better or closer option for fresh water but her temper was short fuse because of heat and caffeine withdrawal. Yes, she was precious like that which was why she trying to stay as cool as possible which was she spent most of her day staying out of sun.

Even dressed in black ¾ yoga tights, her sneakers and dark steel blue oversized ¾ sleeve dolman top with a scoop neckline wasn't enough to abate the heat. Underneath she wore the white racerback crop top she did her yoga so she fan herself with the top and not indecently flash anyone when she did so.

Not that she worried about that at the moment as she stood alone on an upper level balcony that ran along the side of the ship. It was in the shade and for some reason unoccupied but Kate didn't mind as she wanted to be alone. She leaned on the rail and held her bottle of water in her hands, she still had from the morning briefing. Severe water rationing had been enforced immediately after Captain had been briefed by the ship's engineer who was standing if for the chief and the navigators gave the bad news that they were 6 days away from fresh water. She had overheard someone say they only had enough water for 4 days travel, so the last two were going to be rough.

"Ma'am, you're in a restricted area" Kate heard Master Chief shout as he walked toward her. The man was decked out in BDUs and boots. She didn't envy him the slightest as he had to be soaked in sweat but as he got closer he didn't look like he was suffering too badly. She wished she could say the same as she was wearing less than him and she could feel the sweat trickling down her back. If she were working out, she'd be satisfied with a good sweat out but sweating like this was not fun especially since she wouldn't be showering for another 6 days.

"Sorry, Master Chief. I was just chasing the shade and solitude" Kate told him with a friendly smile.

"I have no issue with that as long it's not on up here. Last thing we need is you passing out and hurting yourself" he said as he stood next to her. She kind of expected him to escort her out of the area but instead he looked out at the ocean.

"I'm pretty sure a lot of people would like that." Kate half joked as she turned her gaze to the same view. What she wouldn't give for a cool breeze right now but it was just stagnate warm air.

"I can't speak for anyone but myself but I'd prefer if you didn't" he said in a kind manner, Kate was sure the man was more worried about the paperwork as he'd probably be the one to find her since he was here now.

"It would cause quite a hassle considering the situation. Expenditure of unnecessary energy and all that. Tell me how are you?" Kate asked him, she turned her back to the view and looked at him sideways as she leaned back against the railing.

"Me?" he asked surprised she even asked.

"Yes" Kate said with a smile.

"I'm ok" he told her.

"And the crew?" She asked out of curiosity.

"They are doing alright" he told her, though the way he said made it seem like he was trying to be cryptic about it. They lapsed into silence for a few moments before Kate spoke.

"I assume you've been through something like this before" Kate said.

"Severe water rationing?" he clarified.

"Yes" Kate said.

"Once or twice. You?" he asked.

"Once but I was in the desert, for some reason being surrounded by water and knowing I can't drink it makes me feel a little crazy" Kate said half serious, his lips quirked in amusement.

"Well, you could drink it but you'd die a lot sooner from dehydration. Tell me how are you coping?" he asked it was funny how his question sounded like a loaded one to her instead of a casual enquiry about her health.

"I'm alright" she answered.

"You're alright?" he asked her, his tone was sceptical and she realised he was looking for a more deeper evaluation of her state of mind.

"You don't believe me?" she asked sardonically.

"You're in a unique situation, you're holding yourself together quite well but I've noticed you've been avoiding interaction with the crew except when necessary" he said assessing her in a manner that made her uncomfortable.

"Are you a counsellor?" she asked him.

"Sometimes I am but it's not my main function on this ship" he told her. He gave her the kind of look she remembered her father giving her when he wanted to know the truth and was patient enough to wait for the answer instead of pretty lies. She gave a sigh of resignation.

"I'm not a member of the Navy which makes my position precarious. So when I'm not flying or looking after the Helo there isn't much left for me to do. I asked for some extra duties but-"

"It's a tightly run ship" He said empathising with her.

"Yes, so I've tried to be as unobtrusive as possible" Kate said with a shrug.

"Yet you cleaned the wardroom" he said with an amused smile.

"Well someone neglected to clean the coffee maker for a few years" Kate said glibly. He chuckled at her.

"Coffee maker is a low priority item" he told her.

"Only until it stops making coffee, then its top priority" Kate scoffed.

"That what the Military taught you?" he remarked, Kate ducked her head as she figured that tidbit of information would make the rounds. There was a difference between rumour and fact and when Mike declared her past military experience of course it would be shared. Just proved how small the ship was.

"That and duct tape will fix just about anything" Kate quipped. She wanted keep things light because she knew from experience that it was a slippery slope of a conversation that went from people asking her what she did to wanting to hear war stories. Something she hated talking about because people liked to glorify it all and make it into a huge deal while she was more of a low key and pragmatic person.

"I knew you had a military background though I thought perhaps you were dishonourably discharged considering how the XO doesn't seem to like you but I was wrong about the reasons. It's something else" He remarked.

"Australia thrashed America in the Rugby League World Cup last year" Kate offered with a smile. She was beginning to wonder how many stupid excuses she could come up with as to why Mike was an asshole to her. The Master Chief narrowed his eyes at her, he had a gift at making her feel like he could see right past her as she could tell he didn't believe her for a second but luckily he was not game enough to push it.

"XO does like his sports" he said accepting her answer but she knew she wasn't going to fool him about anything.

"Who doesn't? So I was wondering where would be the best places to escape the sun and the heat for the next few days?" Kate asked him changing the topic as she started to feel an uncomfortable need to leave,

"Helo Bay 2 would be the ideal location, they'll be moving the Helo out tomorrow morning" he told her. Kate nodded acknowledging what he was saying.

"Ok, well I should head back into an unrestricted area. Thanks for coming out here and warning me about the restricted zone. I'll remember next time" Kate said, he gave a nod and Kate took her leave and started to walk away.

"Lassiter" He called out, Kate stopped and turned to face him.

"Yes?" she replied.

"You're going the wrong direction" he informed her. Kate gave an embarrassed smile as he gestured to the direction she should be walking in.

"Right, thank you" Kate said.

* * *

2 days later,

The ship had been sitting still for the better part of the night and day as the electrical system in the makeshift lab in Helo bay One was completely fried. So they had to stop the ship and sink the virus strain samples to the bottom of the ocean to keep them cool. Water restrictions had been revised and become more severe due to the fact that they were now delayed by an indeterminate time. The information about what was happening was sketchy at best but from what Kate understood was that they were waiting for the wind of all things to get them going again.

"I've never seen a day this windless" Lieutenant Green said. He held the pose of a male model in a Kathmandu catalogue as he peered out to the water. So far the wind that had been predicted had yet to show up.

"Well, I'm a gambling man myself. Captain's put all his chips in the middle of the table" Tex said as he sat on the deck leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out before him. "Sure hope he has an ace up his sleeve" he added.

"It'll be fine" Kate said as she sat in the same position as Tex, she was so glad for her aviator sun glasses as the glare off the water was killer. She was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, she was already starting to feel grungy from the lack of showering and constant sweating.

"I thought you were a realist" Tex said looking to Kate.

"I am, apparently there's a low front coming in from the east. So we should be fine" Kate said, looking to the positive side of things because she was not going to be a Debby Downer.

"Well, it's great weather for golf" Tex said making conversation.

"The way you play it definitely" Kate said with a smile.

"I'm not that bad, unlike you" He said. Kate gave him an incredulous look over her aviator sunglasses at him.

"I'm sorry, why give me a huge bag? if not to fill it with beer?" Kate asked him.

"Golf isn't a drinking game" Tex told her, it was an old argument of theirs. Kate felt the only way golf was tolerable was when you were drunk.

"It should be" Kate said before she took a small sip of her water bottle. It only a quarter of a cup, her 'ration' for the day. It was barely worth carrying around but she did it anyway taking a sip every couple of hours. They still had four days to go, that was if they got the wind to carry them there. Looking around Kate had a feeling many of them weren't going to make it 3 days considering many of the crew were starting to get sluggish in their movements.

She looked over at Rachel who was sitting by the rigging they had used to drop the virus samples into the ocean to keep the chilled. She just stared at the screen making sure the readings never changed or maybe she believed if she looked away for a moment the container might disappear into the ocean. Kate brought her water and food to her figuring it was easier than trying to pry her away from it as she offered to take a turn watching the screen but the woman would not budge.

"Well for starters in golf you swing the club with both hands" Tex told her.

"But how am I supposed to hold my beer if both hands are on the club?" Kate asked him mockingly.

"See what I have to put up with?" Tex asked Lieutenant Green. The Lieutenant gave Tex a look that said that he was the one suffering the most from being around them as if he had to chaperone them. Kate didn't really get why he was hanging around them if he found her and Tex's inane conversations so insufferable but the man stuck it out.

"You could break up with me" Kate told Tex.

"I'm limited on my options of female friends I can utilise as a wingman" Tex informed her. Kate laughed.

"Well, anyone you got your eyes on?" Kate asked Tex, not surprised that he had already scoped out the talent on the ship.

"I'm told there is a no fraternisation policy on the ship" Tex said making a face.

"For the crew, sure. Did you enlist into the Navy?" Kate asked.

"No, not that I remember" Tex said, Kate was about to argue that any interested female was game as long as it didn't interfere with her duties and they kept it discreet when Green spoke first.

"There is no fraternisation for anyone. Civilian or Military" Lieutenant Green informed them in a stern tone. Tex threw a hand up in Green's direction as if to say 'see what I mean'. Kate looked at him with a bemused expression.

"And who are you the Abstinence enforcer of the ship?" Kate asked trying to keep a straight face.

"Could you imagine that, probably run around with a flash light and a ruler" Tex added with a wide smile.

"Well it would be his mission to keep this ship from becoming a den of iniquity. Am I right Lieutenant?" she asked Lieutenant Green looked immensely displeased at her and Tex as they both started to laugh.

"Just let it all out but I'm serious" Green told them in a dark tone.

"Yeah and the one who tries to enforce the rules is usually the one breaking them" Kate said, she noticed that she hit a raw nerve as Lieutenant Green had yet to come up with a witty retort. She slowly rose to her feet."Well guys, it's been fun but I need to get in the shade" she told them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

A few days later,

Kate sat down on the stairs that lead to the upper decks taking a break from her duties of helping Master Chief. Her head hung low as she rested her forearms on her thighs. She blew out a breath as the humid heat was stifling; her skin had a light sheen of sweat. A couple days ago the sweat was rolling off her, now it just clung to her which was not a good sign.

Once she stopped sweating that would mean she would graduate to a whole new level of trouble. She looked to her bottle of water on the ground. It barely had a shot of water, the last of her rations. It was nothing in the grand scheme of things as it wouldn't save her nor would it sate her thirst.

"How you holding up now?" Master Chief asked as he walked up to her and leaned against the wall.

"Great" Kate lied as she lifted her head up and gave him a weak smile. "I was thinking about heading up for some fresh air, cool down for a bit. Get some more medical supplies" Kate told him. She'd been helping him look after crew who had become bedridden with dehydration below the decks. There weren't many people still able to stand let alone walk around. They were nearly out of water, what water that was left was being given to the crew in critical condition who didn't have an IV bag. But even so, Master Chief had informed her that morning that the water they had left wouldn't last the day and there was still at least day and half until they reached Serrana Bank. If they reached Serrana Bank.

"I'll get the supplies. You go take a break" he told her.

"You sure?" Kate asked him, she wished she had his stamina. He nodded.

"Yeah, you're near dead on your feet" he told her. She nodded as she dragged the back of her hand across her forehead and gave a sigh of exhaustion.

"I'm in awe of you, you're holding up better than me and I'm in reasonable clothing" Kate said as the man seemed to have boundless energy even if he was moving at a slower pace he didn't look like he was going to stop and fall down anytime soon. He was dressed in BDUs and boots while she was in her loose racer back tank and crop top with ¾ leg yoga pants and sneakers. It just wasn't fair.

"I'm suffering like everyone else. You need help getting up top?" he asked her as he held out his hand to her.

"No, I can make it" Kate said waving his hand away dismissively. She picked up her bottle of water that barely had a shot of water in it and rose to her feet. "I'll be back in half an hour" She told him.

"Get some sleep and come back in a few hours. I'll call down for help if I need it" he told her in a firm tone that made it clear he was ordering her.

"Ok, thank you" Kate said to him, he gave a nod and Kate turned on her feet and pulled herself up the stairs.

She slowly made her way up through the ship moving towards the Helo bay two knowing it would be a few degrees cooler than her bunk even if it was further away. She was sure she could make it.

She had made it halfway there when she realised her ambition to take a shortcut to the Helo bay was rather overzealous of her. She leaned heavily against the wall of the hallway as she slowly made her way to the ladder she needed to climb to get up to the next level. But she didn't have enough energy to back track to the long way up.

"Why is everything so freaking steep to climb?" Kate mumbled when she reached the outer area before the maintenance tunnel. She took a sluggish breath mustering her energy and pushed off the wall. Her vision clouded with white sparks and her head swooned as she gripped the door frame with one hand and her bottle of water in the other. She carefully lifted her foot up to step in but misjudged it because when she put her foot down it landed on the bottom edge of the door frame. It unbalanced her and she fell forward, hitting her head hard on the way down. Kate had no idea what on as everything snapped out black.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_Naples, Italy._

_In the early hours of the morning, Kate felt Mike smooth a hand over her naked hip and up her flank careful of the bruises that marred her skin. She gave a sleepy yet sexy chuckle as he slowly grazed his fingers up over the top of her shoulder._

_"You going to let me get any sleep?" Kate asked him, a smile spreading across her lips as she felt amazing, but then Mike was good at making her feel so. The man was a drug to her, she never been one to get attached to people especially a man but there was something about him other than his damn fine skills between the sheets._

_She still couldn't believe that they had managed to meet not once but 5 times since their first time in Rota. Considering their schedules it was miraculous though Kate had killed a few frequent flyer miles to meet up with Mike a couple of those times but it had been worth it. He was worth it. She would never admit it out loud but she was in love in. She knew it couldn't last, it wouldn't last but it hadn't stopped her from falling for him. So she had learnt that she needed to enjoy it as long as it lasted and when it was time. Let him go. He had kids, an estranged wife he was separated from. They lived in separate worlds and being pragmatic she knew there was an expiration date on the relationship and she wasn't stupid to ask or take more than what he was offering. Right now, she needed him._

_"You going to tell me what happened to you?" he asked her as he gently nipped her shoulder._

_"It's nothing, I was in a helo crash" she said as she turned her head into the pillow. It was not 'nothing'. She had been substitute co-pilot on a mission to retrieve two Special Forces soldiers from a tribe in the remote Afghanistan territory. But an hour into the mission returning back to base they had come under fire, they barely escaped but the damage to the Helo was enough to make it lose its shit and crash; killing everyone on board except for herself and one of the soldiers in the back. Her stomach churned as bile rose in her throat and tears burned the back of her eyes as she remembered the pilot she had been flying with, his body mangled and crushed into the metal frame of the Helo and the ground._

_She swallowed the lump in her throat and shoved the memory away deep inside her as she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to be in the moment and enjoy her limited time with Mike. They had been lucky to even cross paths like this, for everything to just fall into place and for him and herself to still be interested._

_Mike cursed under his breath. "Any survivors?" he asked as he placed a tender kiss on the side of her neck._

_"Yeah, me and one of the soldiers I went to pick up. The rest were killed on impact." Kate said, Major Jack Lassiter, the one man she owed her life because she was sure if he hadn't gotten her out of the Helo and practically harassed and half carried her back to safety._

_She turned around to face him and gave a sad smile as she traced a hand down the side of his face. His hair was charmingly rumpled and he was in need of a shave._

_"It's no big deal. I've crashed before and survived. At least this time it was minor injuries and once the inquest is finished I'll be back on active duty. So let's not talk about it." she said she lifted up onto her elbow and kissed him. A sweet, hot kiss._

_"We are limited for time" he murmured against her lips when he pulled back from her kiss. He then teased her back with a ghost of a kiss._

_"When do you have to get back to the ship?" she asked him as she tried to kiss him but he teased her by keeping his lips close enough to graze hers. It was simultaneously annoying and incredibly hot._

_"Three hours, I can't be caught doing a walk of shame" he told her before giving her a gentle kiss._

_"We can't have that" Kate teased before his lips came down on hers again as she chuckled but soon her chuckle turned into a moan as she opened her mouth for the slow caress of his tongue._

_*** flash back***_

* * *

Mike was heading down to the lower decks to check on the crew. Make sure the Master Chief and Kate had everything they needed and just to show his presence to the crew. It usually helped the lower ranks to know they weren't forgotten. He had taken the long route down to the lower decks as he wanted to conserve his energy. He had only walked down the steps the deck below the Helo bays when he heard a moan of pain. He thought he was hallucinating for a moment as it sounded like Kate but then he heard Kate curse and knew it was not a hallucination. He followed the noise and found her sitting on the floor of one of the maintenance tubes that the crew used a short cut to the upper levels. She was sitting with her back against the and her knees to her chest with her head down.

"Kate" he said, she looked up at him and it was his turn to curse as she had a gash across her forehead just above her right eyebrow. Blood ran down the side of her face.

"Hmm" She said, she looked a little lost as he moved into the small space, the empty looking bottle of water with blood on it hadn't missed his attention. She gave a rather dopey expression as she pointed to the ladder "I was trying to get to the Helo Bay" she said, he crouched down in front of her.

"You had to take the short cut" he said in a scolding tone as he took a closer look at her wound. It looked superficial but it was hard to tell as there was too much blood and gore on her face.

"Yeah, I was adventurous. You used to love that about me" Kate mumbled, she winced and her eyes started to droop like she was about to doze off to sleep but Mike wasn't having any of it as it would mean him carrying her up to the Helo which would be problematic in his condition and the small hallways. So he cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his.

"Hey, look at me" He told her, Kate seemed to struggle but she locked eyes with him.

"I think I hit my head" she said stating the obvious, if he had any doubt before about her having a concussion. They were laid to rest as she was talking like she had a fried noodle between her head.

"Yeah, you did" he told her as he popped the top of his bottle of water and then moved his hand from her shin to cradle the back of her head. He gently pressed the bottle to her lips. "Here, take a small sip" he ordered her, after she took a couple of sips, he gently lowered her head back against the wall and capped the water bottle again and propped it up on a higher rung of the ladder to get later.

"Hey don't pass out on me yet" Mike snapped at her, she snapped her eyes wide as if trying to keep them open but was failing miserably. He had barely took his eyes off her and when he looked back her eyes had glazed over. He reached for his radio on his shoulder about to call for help when he realised everyone was tapped out and he could easily walk her to the Helo bay where Doc Rios was. "Ok, We need to move, come on, let's get you up" he said in a soft cajoling manner.

"Hmm" Kate murmured non-committally, her head lolling forward for a moment.

"Kate" he snapped, his sharp tone worked to wake her up as she opened her eyes wide and focussed just for a second.

"What? I'm up" She whined, he couldn't help but chuckle at her as she was about to doze off.

"Sure, now come on, let's get you off the floor" he told her, he could easily pick her up bridal style but he wasn't sure he had the strength to carry all the way to the Helo Bay. So he grasped her under the arms and pulled her up to her feet. His head swooned from the quick movement but the sensation disappeared as quickly as it hit him.

Kate on the other hand fell against him like a sack of potatoes. He had to take a step back to steady them as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up against him. She gripped onto the front of his BDU jacket like it was a lifeline and dropped her head on his chest.

"I got you" he mumbled as Kate leaned into heavily into him. He closed his eyes, holding her tightly against him. Without warning, the heat flared with him, the one thing he had hoped to entirely avoid this situation. But it was too late. He knew instantly he shouldn't have held her because there was dealing with his own thoughts, imagination but to physically hold her this close devastated him.

It was painful because he wanted more but couldn't have her, he missed holding her. He missed the feel of her body against his and right now was not the time to reminiscing. He loosened his hold her but immediately pulled her up against him again as she had tight grip on his jacket attempting to drag him down. He felt her body tremble against his and closed his eyes.

"Just hold me for a moment" Kate mumbled into his chest. There was deep sadness in her tone that struck a chord with him. The sense of vulnerability calling out to him to comfort her, he lowered his forehead to shoulder and closed his eyes. Giving her a moment to garner her strength and for him to get back some self control. They really needed to get moving.

"Kate-" he started but she shook her head, not wanting him to say anything. She felt like she had been hit with a two by four and on top of that her senses were spinning. She was beyond exhausted and right now her whole world had shrunk in her. She had to close her eyes as her waves of light shimmered through her vision that felt almost euphoric nature. The only thing that kept her upright was Mike as she could barely register her own body. He was her only tether and right now she needed him to hold her.

"Just a moment, please" she pleaded, she felt his arms tighten around her and said nothing. She turned her head to the side forgetting for a moment that his head was on her shoulder. He of course hadn't forgotten but in that moment instead of dropping her like a bad habit and stepping away as she expected he turned his face towards her. Her heart began to beat a little faster as she got muddled by the heat and maybe the possible brain damage. Whatever excuse she would give herself to tell herself later because right now she had the intense need for him and just wanted to recapture what they left behind those years ago. She wanted to settle her lips over his and kiss him.

The anticipation of the pleasure was heady as she felt his hot breath caress her lips. She barely grazed the corner of his mouth with hers when his shoulder radio crackled to life.

"_XO this is bridge. Report" _Tom's voice said over the radio. It snapped them out of their bubble and Kate turned her face away from his. Mike cleared his throat and reluctantly answered the hail.

"This is XO, I've been delayed. Will Report in 5" he replied. He blew out a breath of frustration but also relief as he didn't know what the hell had gotten into him."We need to get you to the doc" he told her, he grabbed his bottle of water and then looped an arm around Kate's waist.

* * *

"How they going down below?" Tom asked when Mike returned to the bridge and resumed his chair with great relief as he was exhausted.

"Surviving" Mike said, not point in telling the full truth as it wouldn't change anything but darken the mood on the bridge. After he had passed Kate into Dr Scott's care, he had down a round down below decks checking in with Master Chief and the engineers. It was looking pretty bleak but like stated before there was nothing they could but hope they reached Serrano Bank tomorrow or people would start to die.

He looked down at the bottle of water in his hands, his thumb brushing over dried blood and the permanent marker scrawl that read 'Lassiter'. He had picked it up on the way back to the bridge and closed the hatch making a note for the blood to be cleaned up. He knew she was too stubborn to die from something as mundane as dehydration.

"We're making good pace" Tom said making conversation. Tom had been giving out any good news he could just keep morale up or maybe it was Tom's peace of mind to know that he may not have gone too far this time.

"Mike, you got a little something" Tom said gesturing to his own neck and jaw acting like a mirror for Mike. Mike rubbed the area and pulled his hand back seeing flecks of dried blood and gave Tom a nonchalant shrug. He had taken off his jacket but obviously forgotten to check to see if there was blood elsewhere on him.

"I found Lassiter, she had fallen down the stairs. Hit her head pretty good. I took her to the Helo Bay and left her in Dr Scott's care before I went the lower decks" Mike said in a bland tone, Tom looked at him for a long moment and Mike could only imagine what he was thinking. But he was not going show that he cared about Kate as it would send up red flags. Flags he didn't need flying.

"Concussion?" Tom asked out of curiosity.

"I would say so but I'm sure it's the least of her problems" Mike said _and mine…_ he silently added as he wondered what the hell he going to do with her. That ghost of a near kiss was currently plaguing his mind and if wasn't so dehydrated and exhausted he was sure his body would have had more to say on the subject. What the hell had he been thinking almost allowing her to kiss him? He had just stood there dazed but accepting when the woman was a wreck. He really needed to get his head screwed on straight before he did something stupid.

"We're going to make it" Tom told him breaking Mike from his thoughts. Mike looked to him and wondered if Tom was saying for his own sake like a positive affirmation thing or for the crew's sake.

"We've made it this far" Mike said as he knew better than to contradict the Captain in front of the crew.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

"Tex, you smell like you died 4 days ago" Kate complained at Tex who smiled in a smug manner at her. He lifted her legs so they were over his lap as she laid on the ground with an arm over her eyes.

Mike had helped her to the Helo and once he passed her into Rachel's care shoved her bottle of water at her and then disappeared to do whatever the XO did. She didn't realise she was such bad shape until she had Tex, Rachel and Rios surrounding her, asking her many annoying but necessary questions. When Rachel started cleaning her head wound well then she got grumpy as it hurt like hell and did nothing to help her headache.

In fact by the time she was semi cleaned up with rubbing alcohol and laid on the floor like a rag doll. Her headache had reached gargantuan proportions and the doctors weren't giving out any drugs because she had barely any saliva to swallow tablets and her kidneys were already working overtime. Rachel and Dr Rios agreed it wouldn't be wise to prescribe any pain relievers without IV fluids to dilute it or whatever reasons they gave. Kate hadn't really been paying attention, she'd been too distracted by all the noise and the glare of the outside world. All she knew was she wasn't hooked up to an IV which meant she had to tough out the pain. What she wouldn't give to just find a dark corner to curl up and die but instead she was suffering and she was sure she could sleep if Tex would just let her.

"You're no garden rose yourself. You're not falling asleep on me?" He asked as he slapped her thigh just a little too hard for her liking trying to keep her awake just because he could.

"Yeah, I'm trying and let me tell you I'm counting those slaps and for every time you slap me I'm going to slap you back twice as hard when I back to 100%" She promised Tex.

"OOooo I'm quaking in my boots" Tex replied mockingly.

"How old are you two?" Lieutenant Green asked in an exhausted tone, the man's patience was thinning but then who could blame him when he was stuck listening to them gripe. Not too mention with Kara Foster A.K.A. the woman he was fraternising with and not being so discreet about as he kept throwing regretful yet longing looks her way every 10 seconds. She knew their pain well, and it made her soften a little with sympathy for the two even if Green was asshole.

"Old enough to know better but still young enough to keep doing it" Tex said to Green. He looked down at Kate and shook his head. "You're a mess woman" he told her.

"That's good, it was the look I was going for" Kate said, she could still feel the dried blood on her face and neck even though majority of it had been cleaned off with rubbing alcohol.

"How much water have you got left?" he asked concern etched in his features as he was worried about Kate. She looked like she lost a fight and after everything that he had lost. He didn't want to lose her. She held out the bottle of water she had been hugging to her chest for the past hour. He took it from her and looked at it and frowned as he noticed 'Slattery' was written on the side. He noted it and stored the information away for later. It could have been an accidental bottle switch but he couldn't remember seeing the XO carrying a second bottle and he knew given their predicament giving up water rations to non essential crew was a 'no-no'. Kate didn't seem to realise it wasn't her bottle of water otherwise she would have never given it over.

"Not much, you?" Kate commented, he looked to her to see her eyes were closed. The woman was trying to take years off his life. He didn't want her falling asleep and never waking up.

"I'm dry, now open your eyes. Dr Scott wouldn't be impressed with me if you fell asleep and died on me. Though if you did die, then she and I could console one another in our grief" He said thoughtfully. Kate slowly opened her eyes, looking incredibly drowsy.

"Then I will endeavour not to die" Kate told him dryly as a sleepy smile gracing her lips.

"Good, be stubborn" he said as he placed the bottle of water back into her arms, he made sure the name on the bottle faced into her so no one would be able to read it. "Though later we need to talk" he told her.

"Are you breaking up with me?"Kate asked mockingly as she hugged the bottle to her chest.

"Yeah, that's totally it. I was thinking more about strategy and deploying you as my wing woman" he told her. She gave a weak laugh at his joke.

"You and your unrequited love" Kate told him, her eyes slowly closed again.

"You're falling asleep" Tex informed her, squeezing her left calf muscle as he wasn't game to slap her. He was already up to two slaps and knowing Kate when she returned them they would painful instead of playful.

"I'm allowed to sleep. If you're really worried then you have my permission to gently wake me up. I'll be grumpy and very much alive" Kate assured him.

* * *

Serrana Bank,

They had made it and while majority of the crew were partying on the long stretch of beach. Kate was sitting by herself in a dug out hole in the side of a small beach dune like her own personal recliner chair enjoying the view. She had a beautiful view of the beach and the water with the Nathan James in the bay and the afternoon sun.

The last thing she remembered was going to sleep in the Helo bay only to wake on the beach while being hooked up to a coconut via IV line. She had tried to drink water and eat some food with her pain killers but it had ended rather disastrously especially for Rios boots and Tex's pants. But after a change of coconuts and some water she managed to stomach some food. Right now, she was feeling a lot better than she did earlier.

She looked down at the bottle of water in her hands. It was Mike's bottle, his last name written on the side. She had no idea how she ended up with it. Everything from the last few days was feeling a little fuzzy but she didn't forget him holding her in his arms or the fact she had nearly kissed him and he had nearly let her. She shifted uncomfortably in the sand as she wasn't entirely sure what to think or maybe what to believe. But then she was holding his bottle, something he should have never given her.

She blew out a breath knowing she needed to go back to the ship and talk to him preferably after a shower and brushing her teeth. Two things she desperately needed to do besides sleep.

"Kate, all by yourself. Where's your nurse?" Doc Rios asked as he came over to her. He was jokingly referring to Tex who had been annoyingly 'mothering' her until she told him to go enjoy himself and assured him if she needed help she'd yell.

"I would not call Tex my nurse, he'd think it a good excuse to throw me in the nearest body of water calling it my 'sponge bath'. " Kate joked.

"Well, you could use one" Rios told her.

"Hey don't blame me, I would happily have gone for a skinny dip in the nearest body of fresh water but I'm being held back by a coconut" she told him gesturing to the coconut that sat in a makeshift stand made from a few sticks to keep it above her head.

Rios laughed as he knelt down beside her and pulled a pen light out of shirt pocket. The man looked weird in his civilian clothes then it was weird seeing the crew being 'normal' as they all let their hair down, celebrating the fact that they hadn't died from dehydration. She'd be partying too if she was allowed but due to her concussion she was sidelined to rest and enjoy the view.

"So, how's the headache?" he asked as he checked her pupils with the light.

"It's lingering but nothing to complain about" Kate said.

"Nausea?" he asked her.

"Nearly gone. Sorry for about earlier" Kate said grimacing at her earlier episode of vomiting. She really hated being sick especially with an audience.

"You're not first nor will you be the last person throw up on me." Rios assured her but it wasn't really all that comforting.

"You have my sympathy" Kate told him, he gave a chuckle.

"Well, you're looking a bit better. So, I'm going to take out the IV but you gotta take it easy" He advised her, he pulled the medkit bag that hand been sitting next to and opened it pulling out a bag to store away the used medical gear.

"I will" Kate said he unhooked the tube and placed it in the bag.

"I also recommend you have an early night" he told her.

"I was planning on returning to the ship on the next rig back. Do you know when that is?" she asked.

"In about ten minutes, I'm heading back to check on Garnett. Why don't you come with so I can pull out that cannula" He told her as he packed up the med kit and stood up.

"Sounds good to me" Kate said to him. He smiled and offered her a hand up.

* * *

Mike sat back in his chair looking out at the ocean, comfortable in his solitude as the bridge was empty bar himself. He was tired to the bone but at least he was well hydrated, clean and sitting in the bridge that was now a comfortable temperature. His eyes had drifted close for just a moment when he heard soft boot falls, snapping his eyes wide and mentally waking himself up. He looked over his shoulder and there standing in the doorway to the bridge was Kate. She looked better, her eyes didn't look as sunken as they had been but she was still pale, she sported a nice bruise on her forehead with a long cut tapped with small strips of surgical tape. She was back in her skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with boots and the scent of lime and vanilla was light in the air as she obviously showered recently.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her. She walked slowly onto the bridge, showing she hadn't fully recovered from her concussion or dehydration. "You should be resting" he told her.

"I've been resting for a while. I just wanted to return this to you" Kate placed his water bottle filled with water on the window sill in front of his chair. She looked mildly annoyed about it. "I also wanted to talk to you alone. Now seemed like a good time since everyone's partying on the beach. You mind if I sit in the Captain's chair?" she asked gesturing to Tom's empty chair.

"Yes" Mike said but Kate didn't listen as she moved to the chair and sat down giving a sigh of relaxation. "Make yourself at home" he said sarcastically.

"Oh, this is nice" She said with a smile as she leaned back got comfy in Tom's chair. "Is your chair as comfy as this?" she asked him.

"You wanted to talk?" he prompted as he knew it wasn't about the bridge chairs.

"Yeah, about what happened earlier today when you found me" Kate said carefully.

"You were dehydrated. Forget about it" he said dismissively as he was trying to forget about it.

"I can't-"

"Kate" he growled in warning but she stared at him head on.

"I don't think you can either which is why you spent majority of the last 5 months being such an asshole to me. Until the last few days where you've done a 180 on me. You're practically civil to, defending me in a briefing and giving me your water rations" she said somewhat accusingly as she pointed to the bottle she had returned.

"I accidentally gave you the wrong bottle. You're reading too much into it" he told her. She shook her head at him, obviously not impressed which made him feel a little annoyed as she should be grateful. Just say 'thank you' and walk away, not complicate things by 'talking'.

"Don't patronise me, I see the way you look at me when you think I'm not aware" She told him. He shifted in his chair uncomfortably as he knew what she was saying and he couldn't argue it. "So just tell me what are you trying to do to me? Is this how you get your kicks?" she asked him in a calm tone but he saw the fragility of her true state flash through her eyes as she continued.

"Cause I remember you being a pretty straightforward guy. That with you there was not a lot of sub context but now I'm not so sure" Kate said, shaking her head as she looked confused.

"You're one to talk" he retorted anger slashing through him as he was not going to be made out as the bad guy.

"Excuse me?" she asked affronted by the hostility she was feeling roll of him. He pushed out of his chair and walked over to her. He placed his hands on the shoulders of the chair in a show of dominance as he leaned over her. Crowding her, forcing her to lean back in the chair and look up at him.

"You're part owner of one of the largest international corporations on the planet yet you decide to jump onto a 120 days mandatory weapons testing on the Nathan James. My ship when you could have passed the job onto someone else" he told her in a scathing tone. She gave an exhausted sigh as she awkwardly slid out of the chair and moved away from him putting space between them.

"How many times do I have to go over this? I came here to do a job, I was the only pilot who wasn't already on a project or injured. It was a last minute fill in. I didn't know it would be the Nathan James or that there would be a pandemic meaning I would stay longer than 4 months on this ship" Kate told him, she folded her arms and glared at him.

"Yeah right" he scoffed. Kate's eyes went wide in disbelief as she couldn't believe they were having this argument.

"My god, your ego is incredibly healthy even after all these years. So you're being an asshole to me because you think I'm testing your resolve to stay with your wife? That I just had to come to James because I'm still holding a torch for you?" She asked incredulously as she moved into his space. It was like she couldn't decide if she wanted space or to get in his face.

"You know you are" He said folding his arms mirroring her body language. Kate shook her head and turned away from him for a moment before turning back to him.

"I'm not here for you, I understood your message loud and clear years ago. You didn't want me back then-"

"That is not true" he said cutting her line of argument before she could put all the blame on him.

"What's not true?" she asked confused, she wondered how hard she hit her head as Mike was not making any sense.

"I did want you, I still do" He confessed without even thinking, it shocked him as much as it did Kate. She was speechless and before she could even clarify what he meant he continued to talk. "I had a family, my kids. I had to go, to give my marriage another try for them" he told her in a firm tone, hoping she would latch onto the argument about their past and not his slip of the mouth about the present.

"I know that" Kate said angrily in a low pained voice. And then it dawned on her and she reared back "Oh my god. I get it now. You being an asshole to me. It's cause you're pissed at me because I didn't try to fight for you all those years ago" she accused him. It was the only way she could make sense of why he had been an asshole to her.

"Yes! If I was so important then why didn't you ask me to stay?" he asked her.

"Because I would have lost you anyway! We both know you would choose your kids over me. That's fine, I understand your reasons. Kids should always come first. It's why I let you go without a fight, I wanted to make things easier for you" She told him. He gave an unamused huff of a laugh as she made it sound like she was some kind of martyr. As if he should have been grateful but it only made him mad because it seemed like neither woman he loved was willing to fight for him. To be with him or not to be with him seemed like some huge sacrifice. Why was he the pity case?.

"Well it didn't and doesn't now." He said scathingly as he wanted to burst her bubble. "I look at you and I remember everything like it was yesterday. I went home and found myself comparing you to my own wife. It took me a long time to get over you all the while trying to keep my marriage together-"

"Talk about holding a grudge, considering you're wearing your wedding ring and have a third child. I'd say you and Christina worked it everything out." She argued scathingly.

"We didn't. My marriage is a wreck, I've lost my son and here you are back in my life reminding of something that felt more like a dream than reality. It's like some kind of cruel and unusual punishment for failing my family and myself. So excuse me if I have a little trouble being in the same room as you!" he shot back at her.

"You think this is easy for me?" She asked indignantly, getting right into his face "The-"

Something snapped inside him and he wrapped a hand around her neck. He pulled her face up to his, interrupting her completely as he kissed her.

One moment, Kate had been arguing with him and he had been glaring at her, and the next his mouth was hard against hers, his tongue sweeping past her gasp of surprise. Kate felt herself sway, caught off balance for the briefest moment, before she clung to him, kissing him back with just as much passion, angling her head to grant him deeper access.

He was kissing her. Tears stung the inside of her eyelids as all the memories came back to her, the past and present melding together as her body reacted completely and sighed into his as pleasure rolled through her. She didn't want it to end, so she wound her fingers through his hair and opened her mouth under his. The soft, erotic slide of his tongue sent a spear of heat through her body.

He groaned in response and his hands smoothed up her back before he wrapped his heavy arms around her and pulled her more tightly against him. He cupped her ass and lifted her up. At the same time, she practically climbed him, coiling her legs around him seeking purchase.

It felt incredible. Better than Mike remembered, better than his fantasies. He couldn't get enough but reality crashed in breaking the spell as the comm to the bridge sparked to life with the watch's update. He pulled back from the kiss, out of breath and felt an unnatural tension fill Kate's body as she unwrapped her legs from his body. He reluctantly yet quickly let go of her, trying to ignore the delicious friction over her body as it slid down his as he turned his back to her and moved past his chair and picked up the phone receiver.

He quickly acknowledged the call and hung up the phone. He was still breathless and in shock over what had just happened that he had took a moment to compose himself before he turned to face Kate but when he turned around she was gone.

"Fuck" he said cursing in pure frustration.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

A couple of days later,

Kate already missed the sand between her toes and the feel of stable ground as nausea rolled through her in a nasty and unwelcoming fashion. She took a swig of water from her water bottle and tried to ignore the rocking and rolling of the ship as they stood in the darkened room of the CIC with Grodin, Major Barker and Mike pouring over maps of a monkey reserve in Nicaragua.

Mike had thrown her through a loop when he practically confessed that he loved her. Sure he didn't say the words but he definitely showed her when he kissed her. That kiss had blind-sided her, the emotions, the memories it had unleashed within her scared the hell out of her. It scared her that after so few years past she still loved him as strongly as she did back then. It scared her because she had spent the eighteen months after Jack's death feeling completely numb to anything but the deep painful ache of sadness mixed with pure rage at her husband for dying and the drunk driver who survived with barely a concussion. After awhile the anger and the sadness faded away and she just felt numb and completely hollowed out.

Nothing really got to her, unless it pissed her off like Evan pulling out that I.O.U. note. Unless it was anger, she didn't feel anything and felt rather like a Zombie. Until Mike managed to break through her numb state and with one heated exchange he managed to make her feel vibrant and alive. It had been a heady experience, one she wanted to repeat but knew given the fact that she had ran away and the current cold shoulder Mike was giving her right now that they wouldn't be repeating anything. Hell, she didn't want to repeat anything until she was sure her nausea subsided as she knew vomiting was not a 'hot' look.

"You alright, Ma'am?" Major Barker asked as he eyed her nervously. It was not the first time since they started the meeting that she had to take a moment to quell her body's urge to vomit.

Concussions weren't fun on dry land, having one on a moving ship in rocky sea conditions was a whole new level of uncomfortable especially if you add in the fact that she was in close quarters with Mike who she had practically climbed the other night like her personal jungle gym. Right now she wanted climb him again but this time she would just latch onto him and inhale his clean masculine scent until she felt better. Obviously in that fantasy he'd be open to it and comfort her but the cold reality was that she had fucked up and not the good kind. The bad part was that she had no clue how to approach him.

"Yeah, peachy" Kate told him, she stepped back to the map table and pointed down at the images. "We could fly over but given the density of jungle canopy it wouldn't be worthwhile use of resources" Kate said giving her assessment as she looked at the aerial photos the UAV had captured of the area.

"I don't agree" Lt Grodin argued. Kate blew out an exhausted sigh as she looked to Grodin. The man just had to contradict her and make this meeting last longer than it should. She just wanted to get the hell out of the room and away from Mike.

"You're just angling for some air time. It's a waste of time for us to be flying around up there and let's not get into the unknown variables of situation" Kate said in a blunt manner not in the mood to be polite.

"Which are?" Grodin asked in a sceptical tone calling her bluff.

"What part of 'let's not get into' did you not understand?" Kate asked him in a patronising manner.

"I would like to hear them" Major Barker said. Kate quirked an eyebrow at him as the man gave her a closed lip smile. Kate took a deep breath before she straightened her back and looked the Major head on giving him a no nonsense look. It helped that he was 5ft 8 the same height as her so he couldn't have the 'higher ground' by looking down at her.

"Ok, intel is over a year old and sketchy at best. There could be a population of survivors in there, it could be civilians or it could be displaced military force with armoury-" Kate started to state the worst case scenario when Grodin cut her off.

"I highly doubt that" Grodin said cutting in.

"Yeah and we highly doubted anyone was alive in Gitmo. We even had zero thermal readings for human life and we all know how that played out" Kate said rather scathingly to Grodin. He immediately closed his mouth and she could tell he was pissed off at her for bringing it up but she didn't care because she wanted out of the CIC and away from Mike. "Now differing opinions aside; I think deploying the Helo is high risk with little reward" She said with a shrug.

"Lassiter, you cleared to fly yet?" Mike asked Kate, she shook her head infuriatingly not making eye contact with him. She had retracted back into her shell again and it was partially his fault. He shouldn't have kissed her, shouldn't have said what he had either. It was a mistake one he had no idea how to rectify and frankly didn't want to. What he wanted an easy solution where he could have his son back; alive and immune to the virus along with his daughters. He wanted them safe and sound and he wanted Kate. Something he hadn't wanted to admit but now he had, well it just made their situation fraught.

"Not yet" she told him in an exhausted tone. She rubbed her forehead which only emphasised to him that she was suffering one killer headache. But then she looked about as good as he felt. She was a little grey in her pallor, her head wound was still healing and bruise had started mottle in some vibrant colours. Add in the bloodshot eyes, dark circles under eyes. It told him her concussion was getting the best of her as she probably wasn't resting enough. He wished circumstances were different, that he could show how he cared and then force her to get some sleep and take care of herself but he couldn't. Not on the Nathan James.

"Sir, I can fly solo" Lt Grodin said to Mike, snapping Mike's attention from Kate. He looked to Grodin with a droll look. He could see why Kate didn't get along with the young Lieutenant. He was pushy and too eager to prove himself in the hopes of being patted on the back. He also didn't appreciate it when the younger ranks tried to overstep like Grodin was right now.

"I'll keep that in mind Lieutenant but for now I'll take Lassiter's assessment. You're both dismissed" Mike told them.

* * *

"You could have backed me up in there" Grodin said to Kate as he followed her through the ship. Kate was heading towards her quarters, but given the nausea and the unfortunate roll of the ship she was going to have to stop by a toilet and give up what was left of her lunch.

"I'll back you up when it benefits the majority" Kate said as she quickened her pace.

"You mean yourself" Grodin said in an annoyed tone as he continued to follow her.

"Exactly, I'm so glad we're on the same page. Now could you go leave me alone?" Kate asked as she had no intention of having an audience when she vomited. She hated vomiting, it was disgusting and incredibly embarrassing only because she had been informed by Jack when she had a bout of food poisoning that when she was vomiting he could have sworn that she sounded she was in a good porno. It had become a running joke of his that left her mortified as he had made the joke that he wished she would be that 'kind' of vocal when they were having sex. Not exactly great for her ego but she let the bad jokes roll off her like water on a duck's back and it helped that she was rarely sick. So such jokes hadn't come up often.

"You don't have the power to dismiss me" Grodin told her in a smug tone, as they reached the closest designated women's toilet. Kate stopped outside door and turned to face him.

"Oh so you're going to hold my hair while I vomit?" Kate asked him, the ship shifted slightly and Kate closed her eyes as she felt the bile rise in her throat. It obviously showed on her face that she was about vomit because when she looked at him. He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Ah no" he told her.

"Then you better leave" She told him, she placed a hand to her mouth and watched him turn tail and practically run. She would have smiled if she wasn't about to vomit. So she turned around quickly and ran into the women's.

* * *

The next morning,

"I think you should check yourself into the Infirmary while I'm off the ship" Rachel told Kate as they were heading towards Decontamination Area where Rachel would suit up in CBR gear to go off ship. Kate had slept most of yesterday skipping dinner and that morning feeling better for her sleep attempted breakfast but thanks to Tex's teasing she ended up losing it which led to Rachel's concern.

"I'll be fine, I just need to get used to the rocking of the ship and take a bucket load of anti-nausea meds" Kate said as they walked into the room. Kate grabbed Rachel's arm as Master Chief, Ensign Mason, Burk and Tex were in the room getting out their gear and talking amongst themselves. Kate motioned for Rachel to be quiet before she carefully tiptoed to Tex who was talking to the men with his back to the door and the women. Tex had just stepped into the legs of his CBR suit when Burk saw her.

Kate put a finger to her lips to say 'keep quiet' to Lt Burk and the others as they were listening and also jumping into their suits. They looked at her oddly but said nothing. Tex who was completely oblivious bent over to pull suit up and Kate took the golden opportunity and slapped his left arse cheek hard, the man crooned in surprise and pain as he half stumbled and turned around to her.

"Morning Sunshine!" Kate said cheerfully with a smile. Burk and Mason burst into laughter while Tex rubbed his sore arse. Master Chief gave a dismissive shake of his head but Kate saw the smile on his lips as he went to pulling his own suit on.

"That's sexual harassment" Tex complained.

"It was barely a love tap" Kate said mocking innocent as she rubbed her palms together as her palm hurt. Tex's indignant expression was priceless and definitely worth a sore palm.

"Love tap?" Tex balked as he rubbed his sore butt cheek.

"Yeah and friendly reminder I got two more slaps to dish out" She reminded him, she chuckled mischievously.

"Two?!" Tex said incredulously.

"I added one more because you made me throw up a perfectly delicious breakfast with all the talk about swaying and the rocking" Kate stopped and pressed a hand to the base of her throat as she was starting to feel nauseous and took a slow breath before she continued. "and I hate throwing up. It's a waste of good food. So if you do it again or enlist anyone to do your dirty work I will hurt you in two fold" she warned him.

"That's unfair and I was testing your sea legs" Tex said to her with an amused smile.

"Yeah well I just tested your centre of gravity" Kate said sarcastically to him as she wore a dark expression. "Now if you'll excuse me. I'm going to go get some anti nausea meds from Doc Rios" Kate said as soon as she turned her back on Tex. Her dark expression turned into a cheeky grin as she walked over to the door where Rachel stood.

"Enjoy the show?" Kate asked Rachel who vainly trying not to laugh had covered her mouth with her hand smiling. Kate overheard Tex demanding why the other guys hadn't given him a heads up and her smile widened.

"You definitely keep things lively" Rachel told her.

"I warned him" Kate said with a shrug, it wasn't everyday she got to slap a man on the ass and it had been amusing.

"No you didn't" Tex grouched at her.

"Yes, I did and Lt Green and Foster were witnesses" Kate threw over her shoulder at him feeling vindicated.

"_Lassiter, Report to Comms"_ Came over the ship's P.A. system. Kate frowned as she couldn't think of why she would be called to the Communications room. She looked to Rachel who looked equally curious.

"Well good luck on your monkey expedition" Kate said to Rachel as she was P.A. activated again calling her again. Rachel nodded and Kate moved to the door but stopped in her tracks as Mike came to the door way blocking her way and vice versa.

They both looked at one another not sure of who should make the first move as the door way acted as a barrier between them. After a few tense moments, Mike stepped back. They really needed to settle what happened on the bridge because for anyone who was watching would definitely read something out of it. Hell, Kate was finding it hard to decipher on how she was going to walk through a doorway until Mike stepped back.

"After you" He said.

"Thank you" Kate said, she moved quickly through the doorway and tried to ignore how her heart was beating a little quicker as she brushed past him. she didn't dare look back as she knew he'd gone into the room and the hard part about that was she wasn't entirely sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

* * *

"Lassiter" Tom said to Kate a few minutes later, he beckoned her into the communications room.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kate asked as she stepped into the small room. Major Barker closed the door behind her. She noted that the room was empty which was strange given that the room was always staffed around the clock logging SOS calls from the outside world. Tom turned a dial on console and the room filled with the sound of static for a moment before Evan's voice drawled over the airways.

"Evan Lassiter is calling us. Well you in particular but he's been switching between two languages. English and another language no one recognises" Tom said over Evan's voice.

"It's Welsh" Kate said identifying the language as Evan spoke. His and Jack's Mother and that side of the family were Welsh and had been rather adamant about passing it down to future generations. It was one of the many reasons why she learnt Welsh, that and she wanted to be accepted by Jack's family. She also wanted make sure when Jack spoke to her in Welsh she knew exactly what he was saying. What might sound sexy in another language could have a completely different meaning in English.

"Welsh?" Major Barker said making a face, she didn't blame him. It was not a popular language.

"My Husband and Evan are fluent because their grandmother only speaks Welsh. I learnt it-" Kate stopped as what Evan was saying caught her attention. Her world bottomed out and tears filled her eyes.

"What is he saying?" Tom asked as Kate had gone deathly pale and frozen. The only movement she gave was the two tears that streaked down her face.

"He's dying" Kate said, she quickly wiped the tears from her face and eyes quickly composing herself.

"Ah word for word he said 'I am dying from the sickness that has swept the lands'" She said translating what Evan was saying word for word. "It is important that you honour my wishes, accept the skeleton keys to the castle and its moons." Kate knew what Evan was saying in his rather rudimentary use of Welsh. He was giving her his last will and testament in Welsh over a radio. "Are we recording this?" she asked.

"Yes, ever since he began hailing us directly" Major Barker said looking between Kate and Tom.

"How long ago was that?" Kate asked him and Tom.

"About twelve hours ago" Major Barker told her.

"Why am I only learning about this now?" Kate demanded.

"I didn't want anyone tempted to break radio silence for one last chance to communicate with their loved ones. You weren't going to be informed-" Tom started to explain but Kate cut him off as she knew what he was saying.

"After he died" Kate said finishing Tom's sentence. She understood that it was easier to know after the fact that what he was now asking her to endure. "So why was I called in now?" Kate asked him.

"He's been making a lot of references to you and the Nathan James. Major Barker made me aware and I want to know but from what you translated it sounds like he's lost his mind" Tom said realising his faux pas as he thought that Evan might be saying something critical to their mission statement. But given what Kate had translated well it seemed like the man had reached the stage of delirium.

"No, he hasn't lost his mind. Castle is the Lassiter Industries" Kate told Tom.

"The moons?" Barker asked sceptical.

"Satellites. He is speaking clearly and choosing his words carefully. If he was delusional from the virus he would be slurring his speech and he would speak in English." Kate told Tom, her argument seemed weak to Tom.

"Why isn't he speaking English then?" Major Barker asked Kate. Kate threw Barker a dark look as she threw her hand up is exasperation.

"Gee I don't know maybe he doesn't want the Russians and every Tom, Dick and Harry with a radio hearing what he says!" Kate snapped at Barker. She paused and took a moment to compose herself before she turned to Tom. "Please this is vital information; I will explain everything to you later. Please" she implored to Tom, he could hear the desperation in her voice that said she believed there was something more to Evan's words but he also knew that it would be the last chance Kate would get to listen to Evan in real time.

"You don't have to explain, just give me your word you won't attempt to break radio silence" Tom told her.

"You have it" Kate promised him.

"Take a seat and Major Barker will set you up after I have a word with him" Tom told her, Kate obediently sat in the chair he indicated and Tom motioned for Barker to step outside the comms room. They stepped outside keeping the door open so as to make sure Kate didn't break her word. Tom knew if it was his family on the comm he would find it incredibly difficult to sit there and not try to make contact.

"Major, I want you keep an eye on her. Do not leave her unattended" Tom told him.

"Yes, Sir" Barker said.

* * *

Hours later,

"So how much did you get working in the private sector?" Lt Burk asked Tex and Kate. There had been a brief pauses in the transmission from Evan, so she had used the time for a quick shower before dropping by her quarters to pick up her tablet computer and charger. She only dropped by the wardroom to fill her water bottle because she wasn't game enough to eat anything. Tex and Burk sat at the table, Tex drinking coffee while the Lieutenant ate some dinner. Apparently Tex was waiting for Rachel, Kate didn't have the heart to tell him that he might be waiting a while.

"Why do you ask?" Tex asked Burke as he sat back taking a sip his coffee.

"Just curious about what it's like working for dark side" Burk said with a smile.

"We get paid in cookies and souls. Right Tex?" Kate replied in a smart ass fashion as she poured herself a cup of coffee needing the caffeine. She felt washed out and in need of a wake up. she told herself she could rest later. Tex laughed and shook his head at her comment.

"Depends on the job, but like the military there is basic pay is on grading system based on your expertise, level of skill, experience and knowledge etc. Then you get hazard pay on top depending on the job" Tex said giving a more appropriate answer.

"So out of the two of you who gets paid more?" Burk asked with an amused smile.

"Oh, Red without a doubt. I'm just a dumb grunt with a gun. She can speak over 10 languages, a qualified pilot, an engineer and she's a lot prettier than me" Tex said with an easy smile.

"That true?" Burk asked Kate.

"No, sadly they don't pay me extra because I'm pretty and I only speak 4 languages. Though, to be honest I don't know anything about how much people get paid in the 'business'. So I guess Tex is right, I probably do make more in a year than him due to my credentials" Kate said with a nonchalant shrug. She never paid attention to her finances but then she had never had to worry about it when her family died in a freak landslide at Thredbo she had been given compensation as well as the life insurance and the estate her parents had left her. It wasn't much but it gave her enough to survive through university on a shoestring budget and putting majority of her education fees on HECS until she went into the Military. Then the military supplied her with everything she needed; a job, accommodation and food. She always opted for as many deployments as she could and rarely took vacations. It worked out nicely for her.

"You don't know how much you earned last financial year?" Lt Burke asked her, looking shocked.

"Which one? I had to pay taxes to the Australian and American governments who both have different dates for the end of the fiscal year" Kate told him before taking a sip of her coffee. It was true after she met started working for Lassiter Industries she had hired an accountant to make sure she didn't piss off either government by not paying her taxes.

"If you had naturalised and become an American citizen then you wouldn't have had any issues" Tex said to Kate gave a shrug.

"True but I like having dual citizenship. Anyway, I have to get back to Comms" Kate said as she looked at her wrist and noted the time.

"What are you doing down there?" Tex asked her with a mix of curiosity and concern. Kate stopped and turned back to face him.

"Evan" she paused because she was having difficulty saying out the words. "Evan, he's contracted the virus. He's dying Tex" she told him in a soft tone even though her words sounded blunt and harsh to her. Tex dropped his head for just a moment cursed under his breath before he looked up at her. She saw the pain in his features, the same pain she shared. Hot tears burned the back of her eyes and she shook her head as if it could shake away her pain.

"I have to get back" Kate told him, leaving the room. Something she felt she was becoming good at when she didn't want to confront her emotions.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Just letting you all know I'm naming Mike's daughters Zoe and Anna..._

* * *

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Hours later… how many? Kate had had no idea. Sitting in the darkened Comms room tended to warp one's perception on time. Crew members came and went switching shifts but Kate remained vigil at the station they gave her. She knew she could wait until after Evan died and stopped transmitting messages and then listen to the condensed version without all the static breaks but she couldn't. It was too callous even for her.

She told herself to focus on the task at hand and not get bogged down in the reality of what Evan was going through or what he was saying would affect her. She stayed removed from it as much as she could but it didn't stop the painful ache that was building inside her chest and throat. Nor did it stop the feelings of inadequacy and anger at not being able to anything but sit there and listen. But it was all she could do and it would be the least she could do given everything he had done for her.

So she sat at the console with Petty Officer Gibson to her left who looked utterly bored out of her mind as she had been given a shift of Babysitting Kate. Kate completely empathised with her because to the woman was listening to a language she didn't understand so it was a waste of time. She couldn't even look over Kate's shoulder and read the notes she was making as Kate was writing in short hand on her tablet computer with a stylus pen. She wrote in shorthand because she didn't want Evan's last words to be the fodder for the rest of the ship.

And right now she had the headset hanging around her neck as Evan had paused in his long winded and very one sided conversation. Well, the more he spoke the more it was Kate transcribing the confessions of a dying man. She was learning more about Evan Lassiter and his company than she ever wanted to.

She practically jumped out of skin when she felt a tap on her shoulder, she paused in her writing and three a quick look over her shoulder to see Grodin. Unluckily for her, Evan had taken a break and thus would not get her out of talking to Grodin. She needed to cut down on her caffeine.

"What?" Kate asked, Grodin dragged an empty seat up and placed behind hers. He turned it so he was straddling it basically blocking her in but she didn't care about not being able escape. What she did care about was that he was annoying and in her presence.

"We need more flight hours" he said propping his chin on his hands as he looked at her. Kate fought the flare of anger that surged through her. She tightened her grip on the Stylus pen and focussed on her notes because if she didn't she was fairly sure she'd stab Grodin with her pen.

"How did you get in here?" Kate asked him as she paused the recording. Evan had been quiet for a while but she didn't think too hard on it because she wasn't ready to fully face the reality of the situation, to realise that these hours would be the last she would hear from Evan. Someone she considered family.

"Lieutenant's bar opens a few doors" he informed her. She could only imagine him smugly tapping those silver bars on his lapels.

"Fantastic. Now as you can see I'm busy. Go away" Kate told him in a curt tone.

"Listening to SOS calls and writing… what language are you writing?" he asked as he looked at the computer screen and just saw random scribbles.

"It's shorthand" She informed him.

"Wouldn't it be faster to type?" he asked her, in a tone that made it seem like she were sitting at the table with a slab of marble with a chisel and hammer carving Evan's words out instead of writing on her computer. Kate gave an aggravated sigh as she really wanted to be left alone.

"I'm old school. Now if you want more flight hours talk to XO and the Captain when they get back. Until then it's useless to talk about it. Now please leave me alone" Kate said in the most patient tone she could muster.

"Ma'am, if you want to take a break" Gibson said, her tone was hopeful and Kate squashed that hope with a cold look.

"I'm fine" Kate said through gritted teeth before she looked back to her computer screen. She was not going have two 20 something year olds tell her what to do just because they were bored with their lot in life at the moment.

"So you're seriously going to waste your time with this?" Grodin asked her. He words burned her as she wondered who gave him the authority to tell her what was a waste a time or not. But she couldn't be bothered arguing as Grodin would never understand and it was important to her to have him attempt to demoralize her of the notion. So instead of wasting her breath arguing she went with a different tact.

"If you don't leave right now I will stab you with this pen" Kate warned him, she even lifted the pen up to emphasise her warning.

"So many threats" Grodin said in a smug tone as if he were invincible.

"Yes and normally I would have just stabbed you but the Captain prefers I give you a warning, then close my eyes and count to three before I act on my threats. I think he hopes that you'll be smart enough to leave before I become homicidal" Kate told him in a fierce tone.

"Ok, I'm leaving" Grodin said, Kate felt a sense of small relief as she heard the scrap of the metal chair moving away. She lifted the headset and turned on the recording getting back to work.

* * *

"Red, you've been in here for long time. Why don't you take a break? I can take a turn" Tex asked, Kate turned to him, surprised to see him as she could of sworn Gibson had been there a moment ago. He sat in the chair besides her but had his back to the console as he looked at her. She pulled the headset down to around her her neck.

"What's the time?" Kate asked as she read her watch but it was analogue and with no windows it was hard to tell if it was am or pm.

"It's 2pm, the Captain and the others have been back for a while. They were successful, got some monkeys for Dr Scott" Tex informed her. Kate nodded acknowledging him.

"Good for them" Kate said as she sat back and stretched her arms above her head.

"Have you left this room at all?" Tex asked her.

"Ah yeah, I had to get more coffee and drugs. A quick shower a couple of hours ago" Kate said, it had been 5 hours ago. Not that she'd tell him. She pulled out the orange pill container popping the lid and taking out a couple of tablets. "Hygiene is important" Kate commented dryly as she took a sip of her coffee downing the painkillers. Wincing as her tone was a little sharper than what she had meant it to be but lack of sleep and the pounding headache was taking a toll on her manners.

"Have you eaten anything since yesterday's breakfast?" Tex asked her.

"I'm not hungry" She said as sickly shiver ran through her at just the thought of food. She wondered why yesterday seemed like a month ago.

"You need sleep and food" Tex told her.

"What I need to do is finish this" She said gesturing to her computer. Tex gave a sigh as he rose from his chair. He moved to stand behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She jumped at the contact and because of the unhealthy amount of coffee she had consumed for the past two days with no food and only water to dilute it.

"I know this is important to you but you're still healing from a bad concussion. You need to rest, I can sit here and listen to Evan ramble on for a bit." Tex said giving her shoulders a gentle squeeze.

"I appreciate the offer but I'm fine and you don't understand Welsh" she told him. She rubbed her face

"Kate" he implored softly, pushing what little patience she had left.

What she was she supposed to say? That she was listening to her brother in law tell her all about the Lassiter industries and all the things she had wanted to remain ignorant on. Why was it when people were dying they just wanted to unburden themselves? Why couldn't Evan's sins be something innocuous like he did drugs once and didn't like it or maybe something saucy like he preferred polyamorous relationships? His burdens were now hers and she knew they would weigh heavily on her.

But it wasn't the hardest part of sitting there listening to Evan. No, it was that he was the only family she had left and he was dying. She could hear his health decline as his words became slower, his words slurring together and the bleak moments when he got tired of talking to static and wondered out loud if he should kill himself or just keep talking. And she couldn't talk to him, she couldn't tell him that she was hearing him, that it was ok. That she understood if he wants to kill himself because it would be quick and probably least painful way to die. That he should because she didn't want him to suffer, that she supported any decision he made, that even though he was sometimes a pain in her ass; she still loved him like an older brother she never had but she couldn't. She couldn't break radio silence. All she could do was sit in Comms room and listen to him. Acknowledge him and his importance to her by staying and listening to him until he was gone. The length of static between each transmission was growing longer.

Kate grasped Tex's hands that was still on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. She held them in place as she just needed to feel comfort of physical contact. Tears pricked her eyes and her throat burned with the emotions she was barely keeping tapped inside her.

"I know, but I can't do anything but this. He's Jack's brother. I was never able to do anything for him but I can do this, so while appreciate your offer- I just can't" she said not looking at him. She knew if she did, she might break down and she didn't want to cry in Comms or in front of anyone. She took a slow inhale and exhale to get a handle on her fragile control of her emotions. She felt Tex lean his head down so his lips were near her ear.

"Ok, I get it but this ship and I need you" he told her in a low voice. The door to the Comm room opened and Tex stepped back. Kate missed the warmth of his hands on her shoulders. "So, I'm giving you an hour and then I'm going back here with a tranquillizer gun and making you get some rest" He reached over her and picked up the coffee cup.

"Also no more coffee and don't give me that look" he told her as Kate shot him a dark look, she knew he meant well but she didn't appreciate him stealing her coffee or telling her what to do.

"One hour" he told her.

"Two" Kate bargained.

"One and half hours. That's it" he said before he left the room before Kate could even muster a reply.

* * *

Mike leaned back in his chair in his stateroom staring at his computer at the blank word document. He was supposed to write up a report on El Toro but just couldn't seem to find the words. Or maybe he just didn't want to give the asshole a report let alone a footnote in his logs. He was about to sit forward and begin typing when a knock sounded at the door. He gave a sigh and gave up on getting the report done and closed the window down on his computer before he got up from his chair to answer the door.

When he pulled open the door, he was surprised to see Kate with a tablet computer in her hands. She looked like death warmed over, he thought she looked rough around the edges three days ago but today she had reached a whole new level. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, her skin was deathly pale only making her head wound the more gruesome as the bruise surrounding the cut had turned a mottled green and yellow. The dark circles under her eyes made her bloodshot eyes look slightly sunken. She looked so incredibly exhausted and fragile that one touch could break her. Probably would.

"Hey, you wouldn't know where I can find the Captain would you?" she asked despondently.

"He should be on the bridge or in his own stateroom" Mike said, he ached to pull her into his arms and take her bed. Give her solace, force her to sleep because she looked like she desperately needed it. Hell he could use a few quiet hours in bed himself, he still remembered how peaceful it felt to just lie in bed with her.

"He's in neither, so could you do me a so favour and call for his position on your walkie? I need to talk with him and it's important. Not urgent but yeah. I just need to talk to him and I guess you too" Kate said waving a hand around as it seemed her brain had short circuited.

"What's going on?" Mike asked her.

"It's something I'd prefer not to discuss in the hallway. May I?" she asked gesturing to come in. Mike nodded and stepped back, letting her in. Once she was in he checked the hallways and saw no one was around before he closed the door and turned back to Kate.

She sunk down into the guest chair that sat next to his desk and placed the tablet computer on the desk. Mike pulled out his chair and sat down giving Kate her full attention.

"I don't know if you have been made aware yet, but Colorado safe zone lost containment of its quarantine zone. Evan Lassiter contacted the ship directly over 36 hours ago" Kate informed him, it was no wonder she looked despondent and he knew whatever came next would not be good news like he needed more bad news on top of the events of the last 24 hours. He was tempted to pull her out of the chair and into his arms but knew she was not here for comfort or to grieve. She was here with a purpose and it would be easier if he kept his distance.

"I haven't been brought up to speed yet but the Captain made me aware that you had been contacted just not the finer details" Mike said sitting back in his chair and looking at her.

"Ok, well he –" Kate started but tears welled in her eyes and the last strings she had on her tightly controlled around her grief were slipping. She didn't want to cry, not in front of Mike and that's when she spotted the cut on his cheek "what happened to your face?" Kate asked him latching onto the topic of his injuries because it meant she didn't have to think about Evan or her grief. It looked like he had been pistol whipped in the face.

"Nothing to concern yourself with" he said dismissively.

"You trip and fall onto the butt end of your rifle? I thought the navy taught you better" she dead panned as she pushed out of the seat and walked around the room. She moved to the far wall keeping her back to Mike looking at the inbuilt book case checking out the collection of folders and books.

"Monkeys got the better of me" he replied in a tone that said 'drop the subject' but Kate ignored it.

"Oh so, did the US Navy declare war on the Nicaraguan monkey population?" she asked wryly, a small smile playing on her lips.

"You want to tell me why you need to talk with the Captain?" he asked bringing them back to the topic she didn't want to discuss.

Kate picked up a photo of his kids that he kept on the shelf that had his personal collection of books. She looked down at the smiling faces of his kids. It looked like the photo was about a year old as the youngest of the three looked to be around two years old. It was the first time she'd seen a photo of Mike's third child. She wondered what her name and she couldn't help but notice how his youngest daughter looked nothing like Lucas and Zoe had dark brown reddish hair and blue eyes just like Mike but the youngest was pale blond hair and green eyes. He had beautiful children, it made her ache for him that he was so far removed them and that his son was dead.

Mike watched Kate as she looked down at the photo of his kids. She had a wistful smile on her face. It was the only personal item he had on him besides his father's pocket watch his mother had given him when he graduated from college. The watch he kept it locked in the top drawer of his desk with letters he wrote to his kids. The photo he kept on display, he needed the visible reminder of why he had to keep going. But he knew Kate would zero on one very obvious fact about the photo besides that Christina was not in the photo nor was there a photo of her in his possession. He found having a photo of his wife had a rather negative effect on him, it just reminded him of all the fights they had, every harsh word shared and all he could think was why they couldn't capture the happiness they had at the start of their marriage and make it last. Then there was the 'Kate' factor, while he didn't have a photo of her. He had a very good memory.

"I know what you're thinking" Mike said to her, gearing himself ready for Kate to point out the obvious that his youngest daughter Anna wasn't biologically his. Yes, his marriage was a mess and Christina had led him to believe Anna was his but by the time Mike figured it out he already loved Anna. It was why he forgave Christina for the indiscretion because she was so adamant about them staying together, that she loved him. It was amazing how he could read people, know when he was being lied to but he always ignored his instincts with Christina because he always thought he was reading too much into the situation. Or at least that's how Christina threw it in his face.

"What am I thinking?" Kate asked him as she turned to face him.

"That she's not my biological daughter but I love her like she is my own" he told her in a vehement tone, it meant he would broker no argument about it. He was so used to Christina taking the cheap shots.

Kate looked gave a shake of her head as she was surprised and felt pity that he would feel the need to say as much to her. She knew if Mike was ashamed of his youngest daughter he wouldn't display a photo of her in plain view.

"I wasn't thinking that all. I was thinking your children are beautiful and how I'd forgotten about how much Lucas looked like a miniature version of you." she said with a soft smile. The kid was cute and he really took after his father.

It pained her slightly to know that Mike would miss out on what Lucas would have become. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through, she had grieved the loss of her husband and her family. While their deaths had been traumatic she could only think that losing a child would be substantially more painful. Children were supposed to outlive their parents.

"Yeah" Mike said in a strained voice. Kate looked up from the photo and saw the grief stricken expression on his face as he looked at the frame in her hands. She gripped the picture a little tighter as she really wanted to go to him and console him in his loss but was afraid he wouldn't accept her.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." She said with genuine sympathy. "Have you had any news about your wife and daughters?" she asked him. Mike pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Only one call and that was a month ago. They're in safe zone in Deer Park with my mother. There hasn't been any further contact" he told her. Kate nodded and returned the photo to its place on the book case knowing she had put off the conversation about Evan long enough. She could tell Mike needed the change of topic.

She moved back to the chair by his desk and sat down in it, slouching as she just didn't have the energy to sit up properly.

"I've transcribed everything that is relevant to Nathan James as the Captain asked. Evan spoke in Welsh knowing there were very few people who would understand what he was saying. I'm not sure whether the virus deteriorated his mind cause a lot of it is rather childish-" Kate paused and turned away covering her eyes with a hand. She really didn't want to cry because she was sure if she started it would be messy and hysterical and she hated such displays of emotions especially when it was her putting on the display. So she took a moment to compose herself. After a shaky inhale and exhale, she lowered her hand and cleared her throat.

"He's given me full ownership of Lassiter Industries" she told him.

"I wouldn't think there was anything left" Mike said, grateful for the change of topic as it took the spotlight off him but not so grateful as he saw how much pain Kate was in.

"Besides Tex? Actually, there is more than-" A knock sounded at the door stopped Kate mid sentence.

"Sir, It's Jeter" Master Chief's voice boomed through the closed door. Mike looked to Kate who gave a wave of her hand which he interpreted to say 'go ahead'.

"Come in" Mike said he leaned back in his chair as Master Chief came into the room. The man must have expected him alone as he stopped in his tracks looking between Kate and Mike.

"Sir, I was hoping to have a private word" Master Chief said. Mike was about to give him a time to come back but Kate cut him off.

"I'll see myself out" Kate said as she slowly pushed up from chair and Mike stood up out of habit. She looked a little dazed when she stood up which concerned Mike to the point he reached out to steady her but whatever it was passed and he dropped his hand away as she looked to him. "Commander, if you could look over the transcripts and pass them onto the Captain I would appreciate it." She said taking her leave or in Mike's opinion running away but he didn't blame her. Though he wished he could make her stay.

"I will" Mike assured her. Kate gave a nod and left the room, Master Chief closed the door behind her and turned to him. Judging by the grim expression on Jeter's face; Mike was not going to like whatever they had to discuss.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Kate felt fragile and completely washed out as she walked away from Mike's quarters. She had over done it and she wished it had been worth it but she wasn't too sure of herself anymore. But she knew what she needed now and that was to get back to her quarters and lie down. She had slowly made her way past the wardroom on her way to her quarters when she heard Tex call out to her. She knew she was deep trouble as she had dodged his threat about the tranquilizer gun by relocating to CIC. A room he didn't have open access to unless he was escorted by Lt Green or a commanding officer like Tom or Mike.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him as she knew it was best to face the music right now than later but when she turned. She did so too quickly as her head swooned. Stars streaked across her vision and her limbs started to tingle. She knew she was definitely going to pass out as she felt her legs weaken. It must have shown her face as Tex was at her side in a flash and pulling her up against his body.

"You hid in the CIC and now you're paying for it" Tex said to her. His way of saying 'I told you so'. She barely registered the concern as her vision was just waves of sparks and black speckles. She wasn't even cognizant of what her body was doing as she could feel anything.

"I'm going to pass out" Kate promised and warned him.

"It's the coffee in combination with the concussion, you need food" Tex told her but Kate didn't hear him as she was unconscious. Tex gave a sigh and shook his head as he carefully adjusted Kate in his arms and pulled her legs off the floor so he could carry bridal style.

"Tex" Tom said in greeting, his face filled with concern as he looked at Kate. He was on his way to the wardroom to get himself a cup of much needed coffee.

"Commodore" Tex said with a smile as he adjusted Kate in his arms. The man's sense of humour had no bounds as Tom couldn't see the humour in seeing Kate unconscious in Tex's arms especially when he felt he played a hand in her falling to pieces.

"What happened?" Tom asked as moved closer to take a look at Kate.

"All caffeine, no food or sleep." Tex said, Tom nodded as he understood that Kate had pretty much knocked herself out. "I'm just going to take her down to the infirmary. Let the doc fix her up" Tex added as if it had to be said out loud.

"Well, carry her fireman style and watch her head. I'll need her cleared for flight at some point in the future." Tom advised Tex.

"Good point" Tex said as he carefully rearranged Kate so she was over his shoulder. "See you round" he said with a wave.

"Oh my god, is she ok?" Rachel asked with deep concern as she had come to the Infirmary to grab some extra supplies to get to work when she nearly ran into Tex carrying Kate like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you should take a good look at her Doc. You could end up like Kate if you don't get more sleep" Tex half joked as he carefully laid Kate down on the bed in the main room of the Infirmary. Rios who had been the small room off the side with bunk beds; changing an IV bag for Ensign Mason finished up quickly and came back into the main room.

"What happened?" Rios asked him.

"A few galleons of coffee and no sleep. She passed out but I caught her before she did any more damage to herself." Tex said stepping back to get out of the way as Rachel and Rios moved in on Kate's prone form. He leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. Underneath his armour of humour he felt a deep concern for Kate as he hated seeing Kate tailspin out like this.

"How long has she been out?" Rios asked as Rachel tried to get Kate to wake up but much to Tex's and the other's concern she barely grumbled her annoyance.

"From the wardroom to here… not that long" Tex said wishing he had timed it or better yet gotten on her case hours ago so that she hadn't ended up here like this. But he knew that Kate was stubborn, she proved it by hiding in the CIC from him. Rios nodded and turned his attention to Kate.

"Kate, can you hear me?" Rios asked Kate as took over Rachel's previous task. He checked her pupils as Rachel took Kate's blood pressure and measured her heart rate informing Rios who gave nod acknowledging the information. "Kate?" he said trying to wake Kate up, she barely moved. Rachel and Rios exchanged a concerned look before he spoke.

"Ok I'm going hang a rally pack and get some oxygen into her. Dr Scott could you set up an vitals monitor" Rios asked her, Rachel nodded.

"Of course" Rachel said, she turned away and got to work finding what she and Rios needed and got to work.

"Is she going to be ok?" Tex asked as he watched Kate get hooked to an IV bag and a heart monitor before Rachel draped a blanket over Kate to keep her warm.

"I'd give her a few hours of rest and fluids, she should come round" Rios assured him.

* * *

Later that evening in the wardroom,

Mike sat to the Captain's left as Tom sat at the head of the table with Jeter to his right. Mike looked down at what he would normally consider a pretty decent dinner but tonight his stomach wasn't going to let him enjoy it as nausea rolled over him. Mike was not an adventurist eater, while he didn't mind trying new foods he preferred to know upfront what he was eating. He also was not a fan of eating Monkey or other exotic animals. He was a steak man and right now when he looked at the meat on the plate he just thought of monkey.

"Well Doctor Scott says she's close to testing a vaccine on the monkeys flicks out serviette for his lap. "We set course for home, there's no sense in idling here" Tom said as he snapped his napkin out of its fold and draped it over his lap.

"Agreed" Mike said as he pushed his dinner plate away from him deciding tonight he would not tempt fate.

"I know I'm not your mother but you gotta eat Mike" Tom told him as he started to dig into his dinner. Completely unaffected, Mike wished he felt the same.

"I think I'm becoming a vegetarian" Mike said, he winced at his own words as he picked up his cup of coffee. He really didn't like the idea of giving up meat.

"Did you inform the galley?" Tom asked with a wry smile before he took a bite of his dinner. He would love to see the chef's reaction and Mike attempting a vegetarian diet.

"I'm hoping to get over it" Mike said sarcastically, Jeter gave a closed lip smile before he took sip of his coffee.

"So what's on your minds?" Tom asked them as it was rare for the three of them to have the wardroom to share a meal unless he instigated it as Master Chief usually ate in the Mess with the other non commissioned officers and enlisted crew. Mike and Jeter exchanged looks.

"We were wondering if you had given any thought as to what we're going to tell the crew about Nicaragua" Mike said tentatively. He hadn't broached the subject with Tom yet but then they had been giving one another a bit of a wide berth due to what happened with El Toro and how they butted heads yet again when Mike demanded that they go back and free the village of El Toro and his men. His blood still boiled a little over what happened and how they hadn't been able to save Delgado's eldest daughter. It only made him think of his daughters and the grim reality of what could be happening to them and how he was sitting on a ship doing nothing about it.

It was the rub of their current situation, they had a mission that would benefit the greater population of the world. If Doctor Scott could make a vaccine which was just another issue because while Tom believed it would take very little time, Mike disagreed. He wasn't virologist but he knew medical advancements took time and more than one doctor with 34 monkeys. And the longer they stayed on a mission with no end in sight the more the crew and himself lost faith because they wanted to go home. They wanted to find their families.

"It's our opinion sir, that they be spared the details" Jeter said carefully, as he like Mike knew it would not be a popular view for Tom to swallow. In fact to prove his assumption, Tom placed his knife and fork down and propped his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers looking somewhat pensive.

"DCA crew saw blood all over our uniforms" Tom said stating the obvious. Jeter inclined his head slightly as they knew there would minor details that would need to be covered up.

"We encountered some hostiles like at Gitmo. They don't need to know about the village, El toro-" Jeter paused.

"Or our lovely dinner" Mike added in the brief pause Jeter had made. Nausea rolled through his stomach again about the monkey soup and sitting at the table with child molesting drug lord.

"Or the sick people, how close we were to them. The fact we couldn't help" Jeter said rather gravely. It was something that sat heavily in all their minds. They had been on the ship away from the real world for months. They heard about the virus, seen the dead bodies but encountering the infected people who were still alive felt entirely different, these people were still alive for one and they were begging to be saved. Something they had no power to do. It didn't sit well with any of them.

Tom placed his knife and fork down and propped his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers as he gave the subject the gravity it deserved.

"You don't think they could handle it?" Tom asked them in all honesty as he looked between Mike and Jeter.

"It's our job to carry the weight of this. Not those kids out there" Mike told him emphatically, he felt morale would take a big hit if the crew knew the truth and it would be hard to come back from it. It was something he and Jeter had discussed about earlier and agreed on.

"We've talked to Tex and the lieutenants. Everyone's on the same page. As soon as Mason's well enough, we'll give him the drill." Jeter said.

"It's need to know, it's how we've always functioned" Mike said to Tom.

"Well some things have changed. We were all in the dark for four months up in the Arctic. People didn't like that much. They took our word for it that we were in the dark with them. We start keeping information from them now-" Tom started but Jeter interrupted him.

"I understand Sir but" Jeter looked to Mike "the crew needs hope" he said. Tom looked down at the table in front of him for a moment; weighing their words.

"I'll think on it" Tom said telling them not so subtly he didn't agree with their idea of keeping what happened in Nicaragua quiet.

"There's also another matter to be addressed" Mike said changing topic to another pressing manner.

"Which is?" Tom asked as he picked up his knife and fork again.

"Lassiter" Mike said. Tom nodded and looked concerned as he carved up the meat on his plate.

"I haven't been able to talk with her yet. I'm waiting for Rios to inform me when she's conscious" Tom said before he ate a bite of his dinner, Mike frowned.

"What?" he asked. Tom picked up his coffee and took a swig; washing his food before he spoke.

"Lassiter is in the Infirmary. My fault, I should have waited until she was in better condition but I thought Evan Lassiter might be trying to tell us something important. I didn't think it would turn into nearly a 3 day burnout on Comms" Tom said wincing as he had dropped the ball with Kate. They needed her to be in top condition in case they required her Helo piloting skills.

"I think there might be something useful to come out of it" Mike said, a little taken back by the knowledge that Kate was in the infirmary but not entirely surprised either.

"How?" Tom asked.

"Lassiter dropped off the transcripts to my office earlier this afternoon. I haven't finished with yet but so far it's an interesting read" Mike said.

"As callous as this may sound. Is there anything worthwhile for us?" Tom asked.

"I believe so but I think she hasn't been entirely transparent with us" Mike said being honest as he had read half of the transcripts and felt like Kate was making inferences with background knowledge that only she could possess. So it was hard to understand the connections she was making.

"Ok, well I'll take a look and give Lassiter some time to rest before we talk with her" Tom said.

* * *

Kate stirred awake and frowned as she was not in her quarters but in the infirmary hooked up to an IV and nasal cannula feeding her oxygen. She felt better than before even if she was somewhat groggy. She looked to her right and saw Rios with his back to her writing on a clipboard or so she assumed. A sickly shiver ran through her body, she sluggishly pulled the cotton blanket up from her waist to cover her arms.

"Good Afternoon" Rios said cheerfully, Kate looked up at him and gave him a sleepy smile.

"Hey" she answered drowsily. She wondered why the lights in the room were so bright as she closed her eyes to block out the glare of the fluorescent lighting.

"How do you feel?" He asked as he put his clipboard to the side and started to check her vitals.

"Cold" She answered as she winced when he checked her pupils with a pen light.

"I'll get you another blanket in a second. Any nausea, headaches?" He asked her continuing down what felt like a never ending checklist when all she wanted was to sleep in a darkened room.

"Yeah fairly bad"

"On a scale of ten. Ten being the worst"

"About a 6 though the nausea is about a 13" Kate said as she closed her eyes and tried to calm her racing heart as her body was gearing up to throw up. She took a slow breath and felt relieved as the urge to vomit receded slightly on the exhale.

"Ok, I'll give you a shot of Maxolon, it should curb the nausea and I'll get you to eat some food before I administer any more medication" He told her.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

"Roughly 18 hours. But you drifted in and out for a bit" He informed her, Kate's eyes snapped open at the information.

"18 hours" Kate repeated in disbelief as she couldn't believe she had slept so long and still felt lousy.

"Yes, if you had followed my medical advice. You wouldn't be in here" He said in a gently chiding manner, but she misinterpreted his tone and guilt washed through her as she knew he was right.

"I'm sorry but I –" Kate stopped for a moment as she didn't want to explain her reasons to him or anyone. She was always pragmatic but neglecting her health as she had contradicted one of her own tenets. So she just shook her head as she couldn't believe how irrational she had become. "I have no excuses, I'm just sorry for wasting your time" She said, she went to pull the blanket off and leave but Rios placed a hand on her shoulder stopping her.

"Whoa, hold on there. You're not going anywhere until I'm ready let you go. Now lay back down" he informed her.

"What?" Kate asked him as she felt a little confused as to what was going on. She thought he was pissed off at her for doing the right thing. She didn't seem to get anything right lately and all she wanted was to do was be alone with her grief and failure.

"I'm not releasing you from the infirmary. Now, lie back and rest otherwise I'll sedate you" He warned her.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea but I'm just exhausted. I can go back to my quarters and rest. I have nothing else to do"

"You can rest here, no one is using the bed' He told her, Kate opened her mouth to argue when the door to the Infirmary opened. Rios threw a smile over his shoulder as Rachel stepped into the room with a cup of steaming tea and then closed the door behind her. "Dr Scott" he said in greeting.

"Doctor, how's your patient?" She asked as she came over to other side of Kate's bed and pulled up a stool.

"Finally awake, though a little drowsy" Rios said as he injected Kate's IV line with a a clear liquid.

"Would you like to take a break? I can stay here for a while and monitor Kate and Ensign Mason" Rachel said to him as she sat down.

"That would good, Thank you. I'll be back in half an hour if that's ok" Rios said. Rachel gave him a closed lip smile and nodded.

"Of course, take your time" Rachel said to him, Rios nodded and quickly did a handover of information that went over Kate's head but after a moment, Rios left the room closing the door behind him.

"Hey" Rachel said with a warm smile. "How are you?"

"Tired, a little cold" Kate said as she tried to pull the blanket up over her arms.

"Here, let me get that for you" Rachel said, she put her cup of tea down and then helped pull the blanket up to Kate's torso before grabbing a second blanket and draping it over Kate. "There we go. Is there anything else I can get you?" she asked in a kind and somewhat maternal manner.

"No,I'm good now. Thank you" Kate told her.

"You're welcome" Rachel said as she retook her seat and picked up her cup of tea.

"So I kind of expected Tex to be in here and you to be in your lab" Kate said making conversation. Anything to distract her from her thoughts as they were a jumbled mess that she didn't want to unravel.

"It's dinnertime, I'm sure he will drop by and visit later"

"Why aren't you eating with him?" Kate asked her, deciding to feel Rachel out for Tex. Kate already had her suspicions that Rachel had a thing for Tom. Kate had seen the two talk... well argue and it hard not to miss the chemistry between the two. Kate could have warned Tex but then Tom was married and deeply in love with his wife or so Kate recalled. So she figured Tex might have a chance, a very slim one but still a chance.

"Because I'm here with you" Rachel said with a smile, apparently Kate wasn't as subtle as she thought and she barely asked one question.

"Fair enough, so I have been kind of been out of the loop with what's going on" Kate asked.

"I'm no better in that regard myself. Though I did hear about your brother in law, I'm sorry for your loss" Rachel said to her with empathy. Kate felt a lump in her throat form and tears well in her eyes as she nodded.

"Thank you" she rasped as she didn't want to think about Evan.

"I can't imagine myself in your shoes, slowly listening to someone I care for succumb to this virus" Rachel said, Kate cleared her throat and gave a sardonic smile.

"You know what's funny?" Kate asked her.

"No, what?" Rachel asked.

"I've outlived all of my family, my husband and his family" Kate said she gave a sardonic laugh even though it wasn't funny. It was incredibly painful.

"Well at least you still have friends" Rachel said to her.

"Yeah, you and Tex" Kate said with a smile as she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before they fell.

"You consider me a friend?" Rachel asked genuinely surprised to hear Kate say as much.

"Yeah, you have seen me naked and you're here" Kate told her with a smile. The two chuckled and brevity of the comment lightened the mood in the room.

"Well, I didn't feel like drinking tea alone" Rachel said trying to play it cool even though it felt incredibly comforting to hear she had yet another person she could lean on if needed.

"If I wasn't awake would you be here?" Kate asked her.

"Yes" Rachel said before taking a sip of her tea. Kate narrowed her eyes at Rachel for a moment.

"Are you one of those people who watch their bed partner while they sleep and have epiphanies?" Kate asked, Rachel reared back slightly at the question as it felt a little left of centre.

"No because that would be weird" Rachel said because she knew it was the appropriate response even though she actually did do it.

"And a little creepy unless it's a post coital thing which this is not by the way" Kate told her, as if it needed to be clarified.

"I'm well aware of that" Rachel assured her with a chuckle.

"Good, because you're a good looking woman but I'm not interested interfering with the love triangle you have going on" Kate said as she snuggled deeper into her blankets.

"Love triangle?" Rachel said as she choked on her tea.

"Yeah you, Tex and The Captain" Kate told her, Rachel shook her head but a light blush infused her cheeks.

"The Captain? Oh no- we're- no"

"Uhuh, I see the way you two argue with one another. One day you're either going to deck him or shag him"

"He's married" Rachel said.

"Yes, I realise this which is why when I'm better. I'm going to teach you how to throw a punch" Kate informed her.

"If I'm going to punch anyone it might be Tex" Rachel told her.

"He has a good heart" Kate said defending Tex.

"He can be a little overwhelming" Rachel said before taking a sip of her tea.

"Hmm, it's his manly protective instincts to want to care and nurture beautiful women. His words not mine" Kate said as Rachel looked at her like she had grown a second head.

"Charming" Rachel remarked.

"Yes, he can be" Kate said in an amused manner.

"So have you and Tex?" Rachel drawled in a manner that made it sound like Rachel wanted to know if Kate and Tex had a sexual relationship. Something that made Kate laugh and shake her head.

"No, never. I'm the widow of one of his closest friends. Completely off limits and even so we don't have that kind of chemistry" Kate said making a face as she couldn't see herself even making out with the man and the thought of having sex with him made her want to laugh again. "So tell me how's the lab work going?" Kate asked changing the topic.

"I've injected the monkeys with vaccine prototypes. It's now all a matter of waiting and seeing"

"Yeah, well I hope it works out" Kate said her mood sobering up.

"I agree but to be honest I don't hold any hope. Developing a vaccine take time and Captain Chandler gave this speech to the ship like I'm some kind of miracle worker" Rachel said blowing out a frustrated breath.

"The things I miss while I'm unconscious" Kate drawled with a smile.

"I know it's going to go sideways. He jinxed it and he will come down on me hard-" Rachel stopped mid rant as she realised what she said as Kate was grinning like an idiot. "Grow up" Rachel said giving Kate an admonishing look.

"What? I'm smiling because I didn't know you were superstitious" Kate said.

"Yeah right, I guess it's a good sign that you still have your sense of humour" Rachel said shaking her head in mock disapproval.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I know I forgot to say it last update.. So I'll do it now.. a big THANK YOU for the reviews and the favourites! they make me smile and welcome to all the new readers. Please enjoy :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

* * *

Two days later,

Kate sat down in the chair that Tex had pulled out for her at the table in the wardroom. She felt a little more human than she had two days ago but it didn't feel like an improvement. If anything it made her feel worse as she was now cognizant of every ache and pain in her being. Her mind felt vague with fatigue but she had full awareness that Evan was dead and if it tore her up in a way she never expected it to.

Dr Rios had kicked her out the infirmary yesterday afternoon and she had gone back to her quarters where she continued to sleep. She didn't bother to get up except to have a shower or get something to eat and drink etc. But she waited for the lull in the meal times so she wouldn't run into anyone. It worked out for her as she was well practiced at keeping out of sight and Tex gave her space until today. He had decided that they needed to have lunch and so she got up and dressed into her black skinny jeans and her white v-neck pocket t-shirt before pulling her hair into a messy bun.

As she sat at the table looking down at a dark scratch on the table so as not to make eye contact with anyone all she wanted to do crawl into her bunk and sleep. Sleep was her escape and when she was asleep she didn't have to think about Evan or the burdens he had shared with her.

When she slept she also didn't have to remember how she sat there for over 5 hours listening to static; waiting for him to come back even if most of what he said was delusional. Tears welled in her eyes as she was going to miss him and a part of her knew it was stupid as he was just her brother in law but he had always been good to her. He had stepped in for her when Jack had passed away and been a good friend to her even if she found him annoying most of the time. It just made her blatantly aware that she would never be able to talk with him nor be able to give him a proper burial. The feelings of helplessness and despair filled her as she couldn't do anything to right the situation.

She was just at a real loss as to what to do with herself but then she was never good with grieving, it was why she tended to stuff them away inside her and ignore them by sleeping through it or working until the emotions faded away.

"Ok, here we go. I got the chef to keep some porridge with stewed pears from breakfast for you" Tex said breaking her from her reverie as he placed a bowl of porridge in front of her with a spoon, mug of water and a napkin. "And Maple syrup" he added as he placed the bottle on the table near her hand.

"Thanks" Kate said in a subdued tone. She blinked away the tears as she picked up the bottle with a shaky hand and poured a liberal amount on her porridge. She placed the bottle on the table and Tex took it away before he came back and sat next to her with his own lunch of a couple sandwiches and a coffee. She shook out the napkin and draped it over her lap.

"Want me to spoon feed you?" Tex teased her, hoping to get a smile out of her. But it didn't work, she knew she needed a few days to find her sense of humour again because right now she was somewhere between shock and damage control mode.

"I can manage" Kate assured him. She could feel the pity of those watching her and wished they would just go on with their meal as her and Tex's presence had seemed to hush the conversations in the room. She propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward, hunching over her food keeping her face down as she slowly stirred her porridge. She didn't want anyone to talk to her so she just focussed on her porridge pretending to be enthralled but the swirl of maple syrup pattern. She felt a hand on her back and looked to Tex who gave her a empathetic smile as he rubbed her back in a soothing manner for a couple of seconds. She gave him a sad smile before she returned to her porridge and ate a spoonful of porridge in the hopes it would push the painful lump in her throat away.

The conversation in the room that has been stilted when they came in started up again. Kate relaxed as Tex fell into a conversation with Lt Foster and Lt Green. Kate had no idea what is was about but was glad no one was paying her attention. She slowly un-hunched her back and continued to eat her porridge in peace.

She was halfway through her bowl when the wardroom door opened and Tom stepped in. He quickly motioned for the officers lunching to stay as they were before he went to refill his coffee. A few seconds later, she felt a warm hand on her upper arm. She looked to Tom who had leaned down to talk to her. Deep concern was etched into his features and it only made her away of how much pain she felt and how she should just hide herself away from the others so she didn't impinge one whatever morale was left.

"Lassiter, I would like to a meeting with you at 1500 hours in my stateroom. If you're up to it" Tom said in a hushed tone to her. Kate gave a tired nod as she knew it was only a matter of time before Tom wanted to talk about what Evan had said.

"I'll be there" Kate assured him.

* * *

Sometime later,

The three of them stood on the deck processing and assessing the information at hand. Dr Scott's vaccine development was not going as Tom had hoped and frankly it made Mike incredibly nervous as Tom ordered the ship to be stopped only a day ago to conserve fuel until they knew which direction to go.

Home or back to Nicaragua, the latter would cause serious issues as Tom had given yet another inspiring speech of hope and confidence saying they were going home with a vaccine. Only now it looked to be quite the opposite. While Mike expected hiccups, he had taken Tom's word just like the rest of the crew that things were looking positive only now they weren't. Their new delay now would only fuel dissension in the crew as their faith wavered in Tom and by association himself and Jeter.

"Also, you two should be aware that there has been scuttlebutt about Lassiter and I fear its growing legs" Jeter said breaking the silence that had lapsed between them as they had been brainstorming their options. Rumours were always abound on the ship, it couldn't be avoided when information was kept on a need to know basis. People loved to speculate.

"Such as?" Mike asked from a mixture of curiosity and concern. He wondered if he was linked in the rumours.

"That there is some connection with us stopping the ship and her boss's long winded communications in another language that only she can translate. There were some convoluted theories being floated around in the mess. My favourite was that a large corporation such as Lassiter Industries produced to the virus to create a market for the cure but thankfully that one was debunked rather quickly" Jeter said with a wry smile as Tom and Mike shared incredulous looks.

"It probably doesn't help that most of the medical equipment brought on board had been stamped with a well known subsidiary company owned by Lassiter Industries on the side. We should probably make Dr Scott and Lassiter aware of what's going on and that the longer we stall the wilder the theories will get. I don't need them saying the wrong thing and added fuel to the fire" Tom said,

"Though it could work in our favour as a diversion." Jeter said, Mike silently agreed because right now the truth would have the crew in a riot but then they were just delaying the inevitable. Tom winced not impressed with the tactic, but then he wanted to be open and honest with the crew something Jeter and Mike did not see eye to eye with him. But then Tom was going to do what he wanted at the end of the day and they would have to follow and support him.

"I'm not a fan of breeding a hostility against Dr Scott or Lassiter just because we can't find a way to soften the bad news to the crew about the reality of the situation. We need a new direction because right now I feel like we're sitting on a ticking time bomb" Tom said.

"As I see it, we only have two options and neither of them has a positive outcome" Jeter said.

"We told the crew about Nicaragua and it didn't help morale" Mike said.

"Keeping them in the dark and dragging our feet wasn't helping either" Tom argued, he looked at his watch and gave a sigh. "We're not getting anywhere and I have a meeting with Lassiter about the transcripts" Tom said.

"Do you want either of there?" Mike asked, he truly meant himself more than Jeter but was not going to say it outright.

"No, I'm good" Tom said.

"Alright, so for now we're sitting still and waiting for a progress report from Dr Scott" Mike said to clarify what they were doing. He was a little taken back that Tom wasn't asking him to meeting with Kate.

"Yes by the way have you seen Lassiter lately?" Tom asked Mike.

"No" Mike lied, as he had visited her in the infirmary a night ago. She had been unconscious and looking incredibly peaceful, he had watched her for a while just letting himself reminisce instead of think about the present. It had helped, not that he'd share any of that with Tom that. It just led to questions he didn't have answers for and while he had seen Kate around the ship. She looked like a zombie even with all the sleep he had heard she was getting. Scuttlebutt was rife about what she had been listening to in Comms and how it was somehow linked to the Nathan James. He could only imagine what the crew would think once they had to sit still for longer than a couple of days.

* * *

Kate stood outside the Captain's stateroom looking at the shiny plaque on the door trying to muster the motivation to knock. After lunch, Kate had taken a walk on the deck with Tex giving him a chance to feed his nicotine addiction and to alleviate his concerns about her lack of 'Vitamin D' and 'fresh air'. They didn't really talk all that much, well that was lie. She hadn't talked but Tex made up the difference talking about inane topics from how he was going to go play poker with the fellas in the crew lounge to how he had read up on all the Kardashians and their crises. Kate didn't even know who they were but apparently they had been having some kind of body war. Either way she felt well educated before she left him to take a quick nap and then fix her hair quickly before she came to stand where she was now.

She gave a sigh as she really didn't want to talk about Lassiter Industries. It was never meant to be hers. It was Jack and Evan's business but now she had inherited it and all its dirty secrets. What she knew could help the Nathan James and its crew but she couldn't just withhold information because she knew no one would approve of how the information was sourced. Knowing she couldn't put it off any longer she knocked on the door.

"Come in" sounded through the door and Kate turned the door handle and opened the door. "Close the door behind you" Tom said as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, she was surprised Mike wasn't here as she figured both of them would want to talk with her but it was just her and Tom.

"Lassiter, take a seat" Tom said gesturing to the seat by the door he pulled his chair from the desk and wheeled it over.

"Thank you" Kate said as she took her seat. She noticed her tablet computer on the coffee table a long with her personnel file, she wondered what he was playing at by putting the items on display. He sat down opposite her with the coffee table between them. He looked at her for a moment as if gathering his thoughts.

"I know how difficult the past week has been for you and I'm sorry for your loss" Tom said, Kate nodded acknowledging his sentiment but said nothing as she took a seat in the chair by the door.

"I don't know if you have been made aware but there has been a setback with Dr Scott's research. I'd prematurely gotten people's hopes up when I set course for home" Tom told her.

"I didn't know realise we were going back to the states" Kate said a little confused as it was the first she was hearing of it.

"No one told you?" Tom asked her.

"Told me what?" Kate asked, Tom sat forward in his chair and propped his forearms on his legs. He briefly explained to her what had happened in Nicaragua; El Toro, the villagers and the infected people before he informed Kate of Dr Scott's setbacks in making a workable vaccine. Kate sat back in the couch as she wasn't sure what to think.

But if she were honest she wasn't surprised about the infected people however Tom, Mike and the others going back to the village and freeing them from a tyrant was surprising as it was not mission protocol. For some reason it left her feeling a little slighted as they were allowed to be reckless, involve themselves in situation that was not theirs to begin with and now could pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Yet she couldn't contact Evan when he was alive and here she was; about to get raked over the coals for Lassiter Industries' indiscretions. It hardly seemed fair.

"-now you know what the crew know except about Dr Scott's failure to produce a vaccine thus far. Something I'd prefer you keep to yourself" Tom said finishing up his quick debrief. Kate looked at him for a long moment as she really didn't know what to say. Actually she knew exactly what to say but knew it was inappropriate and hostile, so she held her tongue. She knew the anger she felt was an overreaction and thus took a breath to quell it.

"Thank you for the update. Shall we get to the transcripts?" Kate asked him, moving the conversation to even more dangerous territory but it couldn't be avoided.

"We will in a moment but I just wanted you to be aware of the situation as there has been some scuttlebutt that the reason we stopped is due to you and what Evan Lassiter said. I want to foster that rumour for the time being, I think if the crew knew the reality of the situation they would lose faith and it's something I can't afford" Tom said, Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You know that you're painting a target on my back right?" she asked him, she didn't think the crew took much notice of her before except for the 'weekend warrior' joke but if they started to believe she was the reason why they weren't any closer to going home? Well that was the kind of hostility Kate didn't want to experience.

"I am aware" Tom said in a tone that told her he knew exactly what he was asking of her and knew better than to ask as she would have told him to take a hike but in much more colourful language.

"You're not going to give me a choice, are you?" Kate bit out as she couldn't believe his gall.

"No, now I want to know about Lassiter Industries because what you've given me here feels like a heavily redacted file" Tom said, not pulling any punches. Kate expected it and was prepared to deal with Mike having a go at her but he had given her a wide berth for the last few days but the she had needed it as she couldn't find the words say to him what she wanted, let alone find the time to get him alone to say them. It was probably a small blessing.

"Upon Evan's death I became the owner of Lassiter Industries and it's subsidiary companies as such I have to protect the legacy of my late husband and brother in law. So yes, you're not getting everything because most of the message was personal and not everything in the messages Evan sent in regards to the company are relevant to the Nathan James or your mission-"

"Our Mission" Tom corrected her even though right now it felt more like Tom's mission than hers.

"Apologies, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm now legally bound to preserve and protect the company's assets-" Kate started but Tom cut her off.

"Assets? You're trying to preserve a bank account that doesn't exist any more? Do I have replay the newsfeeds for you?" Tom asked in disbelief.

"Lassiter Industries assets are more than a bunch of ones and zeros in a bank account. That I don't care about. I care about protecting the people who work for the company like myself and Tex. Now, Lassiter Industries has access to the satellite network-"

"One would ask how your company has access to satellite network that isn't yours to begin with" Tom drawled in a displeased manner and Kate felt the metaphorical coals come to life.

"Don't know and frankly don't care" Kate told him in a nonchalant manner which only made him scowl in displeasure. "Now Evan said he has uploaded a compressed data packet of all the highly valuable intelligence he could gather over the past few months and from before the outbreak to one of the US government keyhole satellites. The details of those satellites are in the transcripts" Kate said. She could tell by the closed expressions on his face that he didn't like what she was saying but she wasn't sure which part displeased him most.

"I know, I read that part" Tom said.

"So then I guess you got the part where we would need to break radio silence to access the information. So I'm wondering why we're here when we should be in CIC talking to a comms technician to lower the connection and download speed" Kate said trying to remain calm when right in that moment she wanted to drop her head into her hands and just groan in aggravation but it would only display her weakness.

"We will get there but I want to know what you left out" Tom told her

"It isn't relevant" Kate said shaking her head as she was not going to have Lassiter Industries scrutinised by Tom or anyone else. She refused to have them pick over Evan's last moments like carrion eaters to a carcass especially when there was nothing of worth for Tom and the Nathan James.

"And what makes you the authority on what is relevant and what isn't?" Tom asked his annoyance obvious as he gave her a hard look.

"As I mentioned it before-" Kate started in a calm tone but Tom cut her off.

"Protecting the people. I don't care about whatever you and Tex have done in the past or are attached to. What I care about is my-"

"Tell me, if I tell you everything what will protect me from being prosecuted for releasing confidential information later down the track?" Kate said to him.

"There is no active government so your argument is moot" Tom said taking another route.

"If that's true? Then who do you answer to?" Kate asked. They locked eyes and Kate lifted her chin slightly in defiance as they both knew she had a point. Much to her surprise Tom backed off first and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm not happy with you withholding information" Tom told her as he couldn't argue with her as he wasn't ready to get into that discussion with her as it would take them off point.

"Funny, I feel the same way too" Kate remarked in a dry manner, Tom narrowed his eyes at her not appreciating her tone. But Kate kept her gaze steady as she looked at him, showing weakness now would not go well for her as she needed to stay firm and in control.

"Unlike you, I don't have the luxury-" Tom started but Kate cut him off.

"Luxury?" Kate scoffed. "What Luxury? My life is predicated on how valuable you think I am to this mission, to you" Kate told him. Tom look affronted by her statement.

"So you're going to withhold information that could be vital-"

"I have been as transparent with you as much as I can where as one moment you're handing me an olive branch and the next treating me like I'm the fucking enemy whose trying to screw you over" Kate said cutting him off as she was insulted at how he was maligning her character.

"You lie to me by omission and come to me with this" Tom lifted the computer "And openly admit to withholding information that you will only deign to tell me when you think its relevant. Yet for that to work I'd have to have you dogging my every movement and sit in on every meeting it's an unrealistic expectation" Tom told her coldly. Kate's lips thinned into a fine line as her body began to shake with anger, she had been fair to him and this crew and now he was making her feel as if she were trying some kind of power play with him.

"That Data packet is yours free and clear as for the rest of the messages they are mine. Not yours, just because you allowed me to sit in your comms room and hear it live does not make you entitled to anything except what I give you" Kate told him in a tone as equally cold and demeaning as Tom's tone felt to her. His whole demeanour towards her turned dark as he stood from his chair and squared his shoulders, it was a move of dominance and Kate knew if she were some young naive kid she would have been scared but she wasn't naive nor was she so inexperienced that she would let Tom think he could make her submit to him.

"You would put us all at risk-" Tom started to say but Kate cut him off again, she could tell it infuriated him to be interrupted but she didn't care.

"You should be used to operating on a need to know basis. It's a part of being in the Military, something I shouldn't have to remind you of" Kate seethed as she rose from her chair and glared right back at him. "Also you should be aware that greater men than you have tried to intimidate me and failed. I will not be coerced or bullied into anything I don't want to do" She added.

"Really? History would say otherwise about you bending over backwards for a man or you wouldn't be here" Tom said in a low tone referring to the I.O.U. note and Evan. Kate narrowed her eyes at him as her hands clenched into fists by her side. She was so angry that he would make such a low blow and part of her wasn't entirely sure if he was referring to Evan or to something else entirely. Either way, she felt insulted.

"I'm done" Kate told him.

"I'm not" Tom shot back in as foul of a mood as she felt.

"You know what, that's your problem. Not mine, so when you're ready to talk seriously about the information Evan has given us; then give me call because I'm not going to stay here and have you insult me because you feel you're getting jipped" Kate told him scathingly as, she picked up her computer and went to the door and unlocked it. She pulled it open and left the stateroom running directly into Mike.

"You have got to be kidding me" Kate exasperated as she just stopped mere millimetres from colliding into Mike. Her senses kicked into overdrive as she took a deep breath, inhaling his clean male scent. It was not the time to become distracted, but all she wanted to do was sink into him. Something that would only happen in her dreams as the reality of her and Mike was a minefield.

"Good to see you too Lassiter" Mike said sarcastically. She deserved it, so she let it slide with him as he hadn't just insulted her like Tom.

"Mike, get in here" Tom practically shouted from inside the room. His tone said he was clearly angry. Something he and Kate shared, she quickly moved out of Mike's way and started down the hallway, holding her computer to her chest wishing she could just disappear.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Tom who had his back to him, turned around and smiled which only served to confuse Mike as he had heard Kate and Tom getting rather heated. "What can I do for you?" Tom asked Mike.

"I wanted to go over the roster- What did I miss?" Mike asked as Tom was in a rather dark mood. Kate hadn't looked to happy when she left either. Some reason he was glad he hadn't been in the room as it took a lot to piss Tom off. Mike wish he was the same but he was more quick to anger, something he had to work on as it was not good for a leader to not keep a cool head.

"Lassiter is not going to share anything with me about what Evan said or translate the whole message into English" Tom told him as he sat down into his desk chair looking mildly put out.

"You asked for the transcripts, you didn't ask for them to be translated into English" Mike said as he knew Kate hadn't fully translate the documents and if Tom had asked at the time then she probably would have done so but not now.

"I would think it would be obvious that I'd want it all in English" Tom said as if it was blatantly obvious but apparently it wasn't for Kate as she hadn't given them everything and given their current situation only complete transparency would acceptable. Her withholding information looked suspicious no matter how innocuous the information she was hiding might be. But Mike had a feeling if she was holding something back it was either incredibly personal or she was trying to protect herself.

"So you were explicit at the time when you said you wanted the entirety of transcripts in English?" Mike asked. He wore a wry smile as he knew he could argue that Tom should have been more precise in his orders to Kate because she was not Navy. So she didn't have to give them any of transcripts. It was the kind of sass he could imagine her saying to him if he asked her.

"No, I thought it would be implied since I don't speak or read Welsh and why are you defending her?" Tom asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Mike.

"To be contrary?" Mike offered as he was failing miserable at staying neutral in this disagreement.

"Don't do that" Tom said in an unamused tone.

"Is that an order?" Mike asked wryly as Tom made him feel like he were in some juvenile tug of war with Kate as him as the prize.

"A suggestion" Tom told him, still not looking happy.

* * *

"Hey, just the person I needed to talk to" Kate said as she came into their quarters to find Rachel pulling on her jacket. Kate had been walking the length of the ship trying to figure out what to do with the current situation she was in. Tom was pissed at her and running into Mike just reminded her that it was only a matter of time before he tracked her down and yelled at her too. In fact all the walking and thinking about it had given her a killer headache. She'd been half tempted to see Doc Rios but she wasn't that desperate yet and she needed to talk with Rachel first.

"Well, here I am for the moment. What's up?" Rachel asked, Kate stepped into the room and closed the door behind her as she didn't want anyone to overhear them.

"When Evan was talking to me, he made some inferences that there is something wrong with my blood" Kate told her, Rachel folded her arms at Kate and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Could you be more specific?" Rachel asked.

"Welsh never really evolved like English so there aren't a lot of words that can be translated into Welsh from English. All I have are vague sentences. The thing is before I started working for Lassiter Industries, I had to undergo a full physical examination. I was put through the ringer and they injected me with a bunch of needles. I was never told what they were for or even asked. I'm so used to waiving my medical rights due to the Army. Nor did I care; I just assumed they were updating my vaccination shots. Now I'm thinking there is something more to it" Kate said.

"So you want me to test your blood?" Rachel asked looking rather sceptical about Kate's request. She didn't blame her. Kate felt loony for asking.

"Yes" Kate said.

"Why not go to Rios?" Rachel asked her.

"Because I didn't tell the Captain and I want it to stay on down low. Rios is a good egg but he's navy they tend to stick together" Kate said annoyed at always feeling like an outsider. She also wanted it just between herself and Rachel because she trusted the woman. She also knew if there was something to worry about then maybe Kate would share it with Tom but at least Rachel would keep it to herself.

"I highly doubt he would break patient confidentiality" Rachel told her.

"I know but I need to know. I doubt it's related to the virus but I don't think Evan would have mentioned it if it wasn't important. So please, could you just take a look?" Kate asked her.

"Alright but it could take a few weeks for the results to come in" Rachel told her.

"That's fine, I know the vaccine research is top priority" Kate said, frankly she was happy to wait for the results.

"I also can't draw your blood until the Captain stops hovering around my labs" Rachel added, Kate gave a wry smile.

"He's still hovering?" Kate asked teasingly, Rachel gave her a patient look.

"He seems to think making a vaccine is like making scones. Quick and easy when it is not" Rachel said dry tone though she sounded rather annoyed by the man something Kate understood completely.

"Yes, he informed me that the Vaccine trials aren't working. He was rather displeased and I certainly didn't put him in a better mood" Kate said as she pushed her palm of her hand across her forehead in the hopes of alleviating the ache.

"I have to dispose of the monkeys as Captain Chandler doesn't want the crew to know. I'm all for keeping my work private but I feel-"

"A tidal wave of hostility and distrust washing off everyone?" Kate asked somewhat acerbically as she leaned her back against the door.

"I wouldn't put it like that dramatically but yes" Rachel said making the concession to Kate's description.

"That's because there's a rumour that we're plotting to take over the world" Kate deadpanned.

"You can not be serious" Rachel said in disbelief as it was absurd notion.

"Something along those lines" Kate told her, Rachel narrowed her eyes at Kate assessing her for a moment who was rubbing her face for what had to be the 4th time since starting their conversation.

"Headache again?" Rachel asked.

"More like a migraine in the making. Captain and I had a bit of tiff, it started after that and right now I'm just waiting for Mike to show up and make my day" Kate grumbled as she rubbed her face yet again as if it would wipe the pain away.

"Mike" Rachel said not so surprised by the slip but picking it up none the less. Kate stopped mid rub of her face and cursed under her breath as she realised what she said. She looked to Rachel and made a face.

"There's no way we can pretend I didn't call the XO by his first name?" Kate asked grimacing from her faux pas and because it felt like her head was crack open any second now. She kind of wish it would so then she would be saved from making things worse as she couldn't talk her way out this mistake as her brain wasn't working.

"No, but then it didn't slip my attention when I accidently walked onto the bridge just as you two became… engrossed in one another" Rachel said putting it as politely as she could. Kate felt like a little bewildered by the information.

"Ah" Kate started but she wasn't sure she could explain that one away.

"I was trying to find the Captain that night to talk to him about my work, I didn't stay for the show" Rachel explained pressing her lips together to squash a smile. It was the smile that made Kate nervous as she didn't know if Rachel would be like Tex and tease her or just let dogs lie. Though Rachel had kept quiet about it for the last few days not saying anything which gave Kate some comfort.

"Oh there was no show, it was just one kiss and then I ran away while his back was turned. It's complicated" Kate said flustered as her cheeks reddened from embarrassment as she felt incredibly uncomfortable.

"He's married" Rachel stated like it were a fact as there was no judgement in her demeanour. Kate nodded.

"Yeah, I know. We met a while back when he was separated from his wife and it was before I was married. It ended and he went back to his wife and I moved on, got married. We never crossed paths until 5 months ago" Kate explained, giving the basics because she felt she needed to defend Mike because she knew Rachel didn't like the man. But also to make excuses for herself as she tried very hard not to be a home wrecker though her past behaviour could be misconstrued to look so.

"So apparently it's very complicated from what I heard and saw" Rachel mused getting her chance to tease Kate back for her jokes about a love triangle between her, Tex and The Captain.

"Yeah, I'm still trying to figure it out. Though I can only imagine what you think of me" Kate said wincing, Rachel gave her an empathetic smile.

"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones" Rachel told her, Kate was rather surprised as the idiom was rather telling of Rachel's character. Rachel then went to her locker and pulled out a small bag. "Now, I'll draw your blood for testing tomorrow and as for tonight I have something you can take for your headache" she said as she rummaged through the contents for a moment.

"Oh you don't-" Kate started but stopped as Rachel pulled out a small medicine container containing several white round pills.

"Here, take two. It's a muscle relaxant. So it will help you sleep and abate the headache." Rachel told as she handed Kate the pills.

"Thanks" Kate said moving away from the door as Rachel looked like she needed to get out.

"You're welcome, now go have some food, come back and take the tablets. Get some sleep" Rachel ordered.

* * *

10 minutes later,

"So, I heard your husband stopped calling right a long near when the ship was stopped" Grodin said with an interested look as he sat opposite Kate at the table in the ward room. Kate had a cut up apple and half a sandwich on the plate in front of her. Her dinner as the kitchen staff kept the food locked up except for what was sitting out on the bench to the side of the room. It would at least 2 more hours before dinner served and Kate was not in the mood to wait when she could be blissfully unconscious. She just wished she could eat alone but it was a bad day so of course Grodin would find her and be annoying her.

"It was my brother in law and he died" Kate said hoping it would shut Grodin up and have him awkwardly run away for being an insensitive jerk. She absently picked up an apple slice and bit into not looking at him. She needed to finish the food on her plate. It was the bargain she made with herself. She would eat and then go back to her quarters and down the muscle relaxants and hopefully sleep blissfully for a few hours and wake up refreshed and headache free.

Silence blissfully fell between them and Kate slouched down in her chair relaxing as best she could as her head throbbed painfully. But the silence sadly didn't last as Grodin opened his dumbass mouth again.

"So, I guess now we can broach the topic of flight hours? Now you're no longer hiding away" Grodin said casually, Kate knew he was trying to funny but right now she wanted to punch him in the face. It was probably lucky that her head was pounding and there was a table blocking her path to him. Luckily for him she just didn't have enough motivation to traverse the space and hit him. Yet.

But then just as she predicted earlier with Rachel, Mike came into the wardroom with a mug in hand. she could only imagine how much worse her current situation could become but she could deflect Grodin's attention for a moment.

"Well, why don't you ask the Commander about it?" Kate suggested almost gleefully to Grodin before she ate another slice of her apple.

"What's this?" Mike asked wondering what he was getting roped in. He only gave himself a 10 minute break from the bridge so he could get some more coffee and not pace the bridge wondering what the hell Dr Scott and the vaccine trials. He hadn't expected anyone to be in as it was too early for dinner. The staff weren't in the kitchen cooking yet.

"I need more flight hours Sir" Grodin stated, Mike had turned his back to the room pouring himself a cup a coffee to cover the wry smile he had on his face. The kid must have forgotten that he was his commanding officer and thus he had to ask for more flight hours not state them in some half ass demand. Not too mention he had forgotten to stand when Mike entered the room.

After Mike placed the coffee pot back into its holder and turned around to face Grodin, the young man had such a hopeful look on his face. He looked to Kate who was sitting in the chair in front of him, she was slouched in the chair but looking to him to see what he was going to say. Mike assessed her for a moment seeing the dull exhausted look in her eyes. She hadn't looked so bright when he walked in and he was getting tired of seeing her looking so beaten down.

"Well when you can convert the Helo into using sea water as a fuel source then you'll get more hours" Mike told Grodin, the young man wore a glower look as he got the gist that Mike was saying 'no'.

"Ok, I get it. Well if you'll excuse me Sir. Ma'am" Grodin said with what sounded like respect in his tone as he rose from his chair.

"Of course" Mike said as he pulled out the seat next to Kate and sat down. He hadn't planned on sitting down but there he was parking himself next to Kate. It also had the added bonus of making Grodin leave. He looked to Kate noting how she sagged in the chair with a sigh of relief, she looked like she was suffering as she was incredibly pale with dark circles under her eyes. He just wasn't sure if it was the concussion or grief or maybe a mixture of the two.

"Thank you" Kate said to him, as she was relieved that Mike made Grodin leave. She could have kissed him in that moment but refrained due to logistically reasons as she wasn't ready to move and frankly she doubted that her kissing him would be well received.

"You're welcome" he said, they lapsed into awkward silence and he took a sip of his coffee trying to figure out what to say as the wardroom was not the place to talk about their kiss or finish the conversation they started a few days ago. In his assessment she was in no condition to do anything but sleep and frankly he was tired of her looking so miserable. Tired of all the guilt and feeling like the bad guy even though Kate never made him feel like one. Christina sure as hell did though.

As he looked at her, he wished was that he wasn't married and in a position to do what he really wanted and that was pull her into his arms and hold her, then possibly have it dissolve into round of hot sex. Just because it would be good to feel something better than the never ending cycle of being stressed, in grief and angry. To just forget how messed up everything was for just an hour or two.

"Kate" he said, Kate lolled her head to the side to look at him and she was too tired to sit like a normal person. She eyed him warily.

"Yeah?" She asked, her tone was casual but really she was trying to muster the strength to sit through what would another ego crushing talk of how their kiss was some aberration and meant nothing. That he would continue to a hostile asshole until she was off the ship and out of his life. Just what she didn't need to hear right now. What she needed was a break.

"I'm sorry for your loss" Mike said with a sincerity that nearly broke Kate into tears. "I know we're a mess but I just want you to know I'm here for you" He said as he rested a hand on her forearm that laid on the arm rest of the chair and gave her a gentle squeeze. He felt her arm tense under his hand for slightly at first before her muscles relaxed. He kept his hand there more for himself than her as he just wanted to stop being the bad guy.

"I thought you couldn't stand the sight of me" Kate said in a low voice. The exhaustion and sullenness in her voice struck a chord with him.

"Never said that though I can't stand the sight of you looking so beaten down" he said correcting her. "I know I've been a real asshole to you when you first got here. But I was trying to make things easier, to keep my distance" he said making concessions to her because right now he just wanted to actually do have a light conversation and make her smile.

"How did that work out for you?" Kate asked him, a slight smile played on the corner of her lips like she wasn't sure if she was annoyed at his honesty or amused.

"Not so great" he admitted wryly.

"Then what would you like to talk about?" she asked him looking down at his hand on her arm. The small gesture comforted her more than it should and thoroughly confused as she was sure he should have removed his hand a moment ago but didn't want to tell him that as she wanted to see where he was going with it.

"Nothing, I just want to sit with you for a spell" he said, something about the comment gave her relief as it meant he like her wanted a small reprieve from the current situation and if he wanted to pretend with her that they were friends then she was all for it even if it made her nervous as hell. They lapsed into silence.

"You know I should be the one comforting you, you've lost more than me" Kate said after a few minutes. She placed her hand over his as she knew Even's death was not as significant as Mike losing his son. Yet Mike seemed to be dealing with it quite well at least outwardly.

"It's not a competition" he told her, though if it were; she would be the one who'd win hands down as she had no family and any friends that she had in the Army were most likely dead. Mike on the other hand knew most of his family were alive or so he still hoped his daughters and mother were still alive. Christina was on one hand he'd never wish her dead but part of him wanted her to not be his wife or for them to have a solid and happy relationship. Now that would have been preferable as it would be less of mess and then he wouldn't be sitting here wishing for things he couldn't have or feel guilt for wanting them with a woman that wasn't his wife.

He pushed the thoughts away and focussed solely on the now. Right now, Kate was here. He moved his hand down to hers and intertwined their fingers under the table. It was amazing how something so innocent and juvenile was so comforting, maybe was the fact that they weren't arguing and slipping into an old memory of similar tokens of affection. He also missed the intimacy of just the two of them being together. He'd missed a lot of things about her.

"I know but you just seem to be doing far better at coping than I am" Kate said, tears well in her eyes as she looked away for a moment trying to calm the roll of emotions within her. She didn't want to turn into a blubbering mess.

"I'm just better at hiding it. It also helps I have a round the clock job to keep me occupied" he told her as he looked down at their hands. "Anyway, it'll be easier when get some more rest" he told her, Kate gave a sigh and nodded.

"I tried earlier, it didn't work out so great. I have this killer migraine at the moment" Kate said in a pained voice as she used the thumb of her free hand to push into the pressure point in her eyebrow. She winced slightly as the pain didn't lessen.

"Maybe you should see Rios" he told her.

"No point, he can't give me any heavy duty meds and I'd hate for him to be drawn into the conspiracy theory about me and Lassiter Industries trying to take over the world" Kate said sarcastically.

"The rumours" Mike stated.

"Yeah, I hate it" Kate groaned pitfully.

"I have herbal sleeping aids. Won't help the headache but it will help you sleep" he offered, Kate lifted her head up from the back of the chair and looked at him weirdly for a moment as if he had just spoken another language.

"I'm sorry, did you say you have herbal sleeping aids? Are you feeling well?" Kate asked him.

"Yes-" he started but Kate cut him off.

"You sure? because I heard you were going vegetarian. Maybe you caught the virus" Kate said mockingly. There was the smile he had been waiting for just as he gave her unimpressed look.

"Maybe I ate monkey ball soup and it disturbed me somewhat" he deadpanned.

"Mmm never eaten monkey balls before" Kate said to him, deciding not to touch the subject about his mother.

"Well it was meatballs not the other balls" Mike said or at least he hoped so "It's nothing special. So do you want the sleeping aids or not?" he asked her as he didn't want to talk about his monkey soup ordeal. Hell, he'd rather talk about his mother than about Nicaragua knowing full well it would leave him exposed to him to be teased unmercifully.

"No, what I want is to sleep in your arms" Kate blurted out; she hadn't meant to say it but now she had she felt half relieved and mortified even though it was incredibly true. Right now she was feeling ridiculously sorry for herself and just wanted to curl up against him and have her back rubbed until she went to sleep. She was craving physical comfort that sleeping aids and sedatives wouldn't give her.

"Kate-" he started but she cut him off.

"I know, we're a mess and there is so much to talk about and work out but wouldn't it be nice if we could just ignore that for 8 uninterrupted hours of blissful sleep?" Kate asked him, he smiled at her and Kate was practically floored by it as she had expected him to give her a patient yet annoyed look. But no he looked amused.

"I'm on duty" he told her as he didn't want to say 'no' to her. In fact it would be heaven and he'd rather leave the option open to toy with than shut it down completely and darken their moods. They both knew the reality so he bargained that there was nothing wrong with an innocuous fantasy or so he told himself.

"What?" Kate asked a little confused and wondering if she was hallucinating because she was sure he just smiled at her and not said 'no' or told her to take a hike. It was not like the Mike she had come to know on the Nathan James.

"I'm duty at the moment which means I have to get back to bridge" he said releasing her hand and rising from his chair. He immediately missed the contact but he was overdue to get back to the bridge.

"That's not a 'no'." Kate said feeling like she was standing on rocky ground. Wondering if maybe he was testing her mental capabilities. She watched as he picked up his coffee

"Go back to your quarters and set a wet flannel and place it over your eyes. It'll help" He advised her, purposefully not answering her back before he stepped out of the wardroom leaving her looking completely confused and flustered for some reason it made him smile.


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Thank yous for the reviews! I love them and also to all the new followers and favourites :-D_

* * *

**Chapter 19**

* * *

Kate was pretty sure that she had fallen into some weird twilight zone as Mike had smiled at her and acted much like the man she once knew. It made her uneasy at first but then once she stopped analysing and waiting for the other shoe to drop it became rather comforting.

Something she so desperately needed. It wasn't like she couldn't go to Tex, he was good at giving hugs but what stopped her was that she hadn't wanted the comedy hour that came with it. Tex wore his humour like armour and never did they venture into deep and personal issues unless there was an abundance of booze consumed first. Only then did Tex open up but only because he believed Kate was too drunk to remember anything. It wasn't healthy but each to their own when it came to coping mechanisms. She usually did a lot of sleeping and cleaning just to keep her hands busy and mind empty.

She gave a sigh of exhaustion as her head still panged with pain. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, before she got herself a glass of water and downed the muscle relaxants. Kate knew it was the only way she was going to get a peaceful sleep otherwise she could guarantee she would spend the rest of night going over what she had said.

"I want to sleep in your arms. Great move; Kate, real smooth" Kate said out loud criticising herself for saying something so cringe worthy yet so thoroughly true. She stripped out of clothes and packed them away before she changed into the oversized t-shirt and ¾ leggings.

She turned off the light and climbed the bed frame and rolled into her bed pulling the blankets and sheet over her getting comfortable.

She turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling waiting for the tablets to kick in. She couldn't believe the weird turn of events in the Wardroom. And now in the dark thinking back on it, she wondered if maybe Mike was playing with her.

Part of her didn't want to believe Mike would do so because she wanted to think it was beneath him. That and his warmth had given her a perverse sense of hope that maybe there was some chance for them. The hope lifted her spirits even if there was no possible way he'd even consider giving up Christina and she still had her pride not to steal another woman's husband. Even if what she wanted to get back together with him. She and Mike had been good together or at least she remembered it was until they parted ways.

Now here in a twist of Evan attempts to get her to move on from Jack's death and making sure she survived the virus. She ended up on a ship with Mike, the first guy she had ever loved. It was definitely a demented turn of events. She idly twisted her wedding ring on her finger, she had continued to wear it after Jack's death because it was a symbol of once belonging to someone, the promise of a life and love of a good man. All that never-ending palaver she grew up wanting but she got jipped.

Jack was dead, and while yes she still loved him on some level, she also knew it what she and Jack had was very different to what she had with Mike. Neither man outshone the other but with Mike their relationship had never really ended. It just stopped, or at least that's how it felt to Kate. She had spent months expecting him to come back or to call her even though he never did. She also knew communication worked both ways and she never contacted him. She also had had too much pride to beg him to leave his wife or even to broach the subject only because she always felt it would have been the ultimate ending and she never wanted him to tell her that he didn't want her. At least not out loud and blatantly to her face.

Kate continued to twist her wedding ring wondering what it said about her that she wore the wedding ring of one man while pining after another. _Pining, gee let's just slip into a bad episode of Bold and Beautiful…_ Kate silently scoffed at herself. It still felt wrong to wear the ring when it no longer held the promises it once did. Nor did it feel right when she was thinking about Mike more than her husband. Even now she no longer felt the sadness of his absence as she once did, all she felt was a cold hollowness inside which only made her feel worse because she knew she should feel something more. Hell, Evan was dead because she had become aware that she was more upset for herself than she was for his death because she knew in his passing there was no one in the world waiting for her, no one out there hoping to see her safe return. Once this ship docked and crew disbanded; she would be on her own.

Tears filled her eyes as she took a shaky breath hating the self pity of her own thoughts. She didn't want to cry as it would only make her headache worse and dehydrate her. She rolled onto side and drew up her knees and closed her eyes, mentally stuffing her feelings away. She took a couple of slow relaxing breaths and pretended she was lying in the bed of her favourite resort the Ainu Nalu in Lahaina Maui.

In her mind, she pictured the studio condo with the white walls and high ceilings with the dark brown woven bamboo fan above the bed slowly turning moving the air gently around the room. The feel of the soft white sheets against her skin, the comfortable temperature of the room as it was warm enough for a blanket but just cool enough that the sheets were enough. Kate felt herself slowly drift off to sleep as she slipped into the old memories.

* * *

Mike sat on the edge of his seat waiting for the phone to ring. The medical team had been dispatched to the crew lounge which apparently included Tom and Dr Scott, now Rios was in with them and the man had waltzed through the ship in CBR gear. Mike knew scuttlebutt would be rife. He rose from his chair and looked to the crew on deck, they all looked nervous and he didn't blame them for feeling so. He too was feeling a little uneasy about the situation himself. The phone on the wall beside his chair rang just as he predicted. Mike picked it and brought the receiver to his ear.

"This is the XO" he said with a serious expression. He knew he was being scrutinised by the crew on the bridge. He was sure if he looked even remotely worried they'd all panic but like true professionals they would keep it contained and not run around like lunatics. At least that was what he expected of them and they had yet to disappoint him.

"_We're going to have to take precautions. Assume the worst until we know more. Circle William, set boundaries, full CBR gear. Until Doc Rios gives us some answers, I don't want to take any chances. I can't leave the crew lounge._ _You're going to have to make call" _Tom told him.

Mike heard the click as Tom hung up the phone on his end. A chill ran down his spine as hung the receiver back to its place and quickly moved to the back of the bridge and opened the small box on the wall pulling the radio receiver out and clicking it. A whistle sounded announcing to the crew the ship's internal P.A. system was activated and to pay attention.

"Attention Nathan James this is the XO. All personnel stand fast. Do not break boundaries. Set Circle William throughout the ship" Mike told them, he took a breath before he continued to set out orders for the ship.

* * *

Kate cracked an eye open as she was vaguely aware of the sound of alarms going off and Mike's voice droning over the P.A. system informing people to do something. The air conditioning that pumped cold air into the quarters stopped but Kate didn't really mind as the muscle relaxants made her way too relaxed to care. In fact she felt like she was in that tipsy stage of drinking where every particle of her being just sighed in pure relaxation. Something she hadn't felt in a long while which was probably why she didn't want to know nor did care enough to muster an iota of worry to what was going as it would ruin her buzz. She waited a moment wondering if someone would knock on her door but luckily nothing came of it. So she gave a happy sigh and rolled onto her stomach and dozed back to sleep.

* * *

"Close all hatches and secure all ventilation. DCA and Compartmental Damage personnel pass out CBR gear and filter canisters. This is the XO, I say again…" Mike repeated his orders as alarms were sounded and the crew started to follow his orders. Lieutenant Granderson moved to the storage compartment on the bridge and started passing out the CBR gear to the crew on the bridge.

Mike hung up the radio receiver and closed the box on the wall securing the latch on the side before he then picked up his shoulder radio and sent orders to the DCA group to make sure Tophet was given CBR gear as Mike assumed the man would be needed in the future.

Once he finished the call, he turned around to one of his worst nightmares. The bridge crew were all dressed up in their CBR gear, looking to him for direction, for confidence that the situation would just be a false alarm.

"We are taking precautionary measures but Dr Scott has assured me there is no virus outbreak. Until she has been proven correct remain calm and attend your duties" He told them in a firm tone that said he would broach the subject with them. He just hoped they swallowed his lies as he had no clue what Dr Scott thought.

"Aye Sir" Chorused through the room and the crew turned their attention back to their duties. Mike moved over to the remaining suit and pulled it on in a brusque manner knowing if the virus was rife on the ship the suits were probably a waste of time given how quickly Dr Scott said the virus could spread. But protocol dictated that they had to wear the suits. So it was what he did.

* * *

Hours later,

Mike took slow and deliberate steps as he walked around the bridge waiting for the Doc Rios to confirm their worst suspicions or hopefully allay their fears. Mike was opting for the latter as he thought of the 120 so crew members who did not have CBR suits. Kate being one of them, he could even ask about her status or show her any deference because it would give scuttlebutt some unnecessary fodder. Also because she was like the crew not in CBR gear were a little more dispensable than those suited up. Those people didn't need to be reminded that they weren't 'lucky' and any voiced concerns would seem rather tasteless. Neither would it help assuage his concern or guilt for those people or make it fair. In fact it made his gut churn and frankly he wanted to pace the bridge like a maniac but he knew it wouldn't help anyone if he did that.

The last thing they needed was to lose any more people. The only made him more painfully aware of how useless they were against this virus and how incapable he was of taking care and keeping safe of those most precious to him. They needed Doctor Scott to develop a vaccine and he needed to get off this ship and find his kids. He just hoped Christina's grief over Lucas didn't turn her completely bitter towards him as he could imagine her disappearing with their daughters just to punish him. She had made the threat before. He hated how she acted as though she were the only one in pain and somehow it was entirely his fault, it was hardly fair to him.

_Kate wouldn't do that…_ a small voice in his mind decided to annoyingly remind him but then Kate had always been pretty straightforward with him. If she couldn't find the words; her face was usually so expressive it was easy to read her or so he remembered. Though he had to admit since their 'reunion' she was a little harder to read but he wasn't sure if she were more emotionally numb or better at hiding her emotions. He had leaned towards the latter because he was used to Christina's unconscious yet duplicitous nature of saying one thing and meaning something else entirely. The comparisons again, he had to stop doing that.

The fact was he really needed to re-evaluate what he wanted with his life because right now he was living from one life threatening situation to the next without any forethought to the future. The elusive future of what he was going to do when he like the others were allowed to leave the ship and go home or what was left of it. He knew he would find his daughters, he would visit his son's grave. He would find his mother and any other family that had survived but he wondered for a moment after all that was done and he settled in one place what would that life be.

Did he really want to try and reconcile with Christina after all this? Their marriage seemed to be a never ending cycle of them making one another miserable while putting up a happy united front for the kids. He wondered if he had taken that desk job in Miami would he and Christina had found the solution to their problems or was it just another band aid.

He stopped mid stride as it hit him as he walked the length of the bridge that he wasn't sure that he up to going through the rigmarole of trying to patch up their marriage. If anything their marriage was like a leaky boat when he plugged one hole another seam in the hull popped. So the idea of going back to that, to Christina didn't exactly excite him. He also really couldn't imagine spending the better part of another decade trying to make Christina happy especially when he hadn't managed to do so in the past. Maybe he had to finally admit defeat, it wasn't the best feeling to give up and acknowledge he was a failure at something but then he reminded himself that he had been trying for a long time to make the marriage work with Christina. Also he when he thought of throwing in the towel it gave him an odd and unexpected sense of relief.

His station phone rang bringing him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He walked over to his chair and pulled out the phone receiver. "Bridge" he said.

"_Sir, you can stand down Circle William. Lt Green has Dengue Fever. It's not contagious_" Rios informed him, it was possibly the best news he could hope for in that moment.

"Thank you Rios" Mike replied, relief washed over him as he hung up the phone receiver. He turned to the crew and pulled off his mask, relishing the fact that he could turn the air con on and strip out of the CBR gear.

He moved to the back of the bridge to the box on the wall and opened it picking up the radio receiver. A low whistle sounded and Mike waited for it to finish before he spoke.

"Attention on deck, all hands. This is the XO, biological threat has been disproved, there is no biological threat. Secure from Circle William, restart ventilation, secure all gear. I say again. Secure from Circle William, restart all ventilation, secure for MOPP level 4 and re-stow all gear" he said over the P.A., he then hung up the receiver and looked around the bridge seeing and practically feeling the relief roll off the crew as he closed the box on the wall.

* * *

Early that following morning,

"Have you thought about telling the Captain about whatever you have left out in the transcripts?" Rachel asked as she unclipped a vial of blood from the syringe she was using to take blood from Kate and snapping in another vial.

They hadn't had breakfast yet but Rachel had wanted Kate to fast for her blood tests. Not that Kate minded as she was still in a rather relaxed and happy state from her long, deep and restful sleep. So the plan was to apparently drain a lot of blood from Kate then have breakfast afterwards. So there they sat at the desk outside the quarantine area with Kate's arm on the table with a syringe in her arm being drained one tiny test vial at a time.

"No, I'd rather not cook my goose quite yet" Kate told her as she looked around the Helo bay. She hadn't been in the room before today so it was kind of impressive to see the small makeshift lab. Rachel gave a faint smile at Kate's choice of idiom before she spoke.

"It can't be that bad" Rachel said to her. Kate gave her a 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Um we're sitting here drawing my blood because I'm sure my brother in law made some inferences to my blood being 'cursed' and turning me into a 'messenger of death' which I can only think was some inference that I could become a carrier for the virus. How? I have no idea" Kate told Rachel with a shrug, she just wanted to know what the hell was floating around in her blood. A question she shouldn't have to be asking herself 11 months after the fact. But then hindsight was 20-20.

"I guess we could consider ourselves lucky that you aren't a carrier yet. If your inferences are correct, then perhaps Lassiter Industries has some type of vaccine for another virus that has made your immune system dysfunctional in regards to this virus." Rachel said thoughtfully.

"Lucky me" Kate drawled sarcastically.

"If that is the case, we need to alert the Captain and the XO. They need to be made aware of the situation as it might make you ineligible for my vaccinate prototype, when I finally get it right or skew the results when I get to human trials." Rachel speculated.

"how?" Kate asked.

"I'd rather not say just yet and perhaps you should suggest they download that Data Packet. It might prove to be quite valuable for my research" Rachel said as she wrote on the sides of the vials.

"I'm still not thrilled with the idea of talking to the Captain about it." Kate told her. She clicked her fingers and looked like she got an idea and smiled at Rachel "Perhaps you could talk to him. He'll listen to you" Kate said.

"We are nearly done" Rachel said ignoring Kate's suggestion, as she snapped out the filled vial and then snapped in the last vial to the syringe.

"The Captain seems pretty solid in his faith in regards to your abilities" Kate said watching as the vial slowly filled with blood. She was starting to feel a little woozy from the lack of food and the blood being drawn.

"Not after last night" Rachel mumbled.

"Ah right, the massive freak-out that I missed out on, I'm so glad I slept through that" Kate said with a smile. Rachel had told her of what happened last night on the ship when Lt Green had collapsed in the crew lounge and Burk had convinced Tom that it was the starts of a serious outbreak that forced Mike to put the Ship in lock down. Also how it became apparent that Lieutenant Foster and Green had apparently been fraternising, not like Kate was surprised by that news.

"It was ridiculous how easily swayed they were to most illogical conclusion" Rachel said annoyed and it wasn't the first time she had said it either.

"Well no one really understands all this virus stuff like you do. I barely understand the ingredients list on the cereal box like what the hell is a thiamine?"Kate asked making a face as she gave a shrug.

"It's vitamin B1" Rachel told her.

"Well, why don't they just write Vitamin B instead of Thiamine?" Kate asked. Rachel gave her a bemused smile.

"I'm sure they have there reasons" Rachel mused before she grew serious "Though I do need to know. In your opinion, would you have called a lock down?" Rachel asked directing the conversation back to what happened last night. Rachel wanted to feel vindicated for actually keeping her head while the others around her had not.

"I figured if it was the virus then more people would have developed symptoms before Lieutenant Green collapsed. But look in the slightest hint of a biological threat founded or not; a Lock down is necessary even if in the long run entirely useless. It's a military thing, it has to be done" Kate said answering the question managing to agree with Rachel yet also agreeing with Tom's decision to put the ship into Lock down.

"Well, when you put it like that I shouldn't feel too offended" Rachel said as she still felt insulted by how Tom and the others had questioned her ability to contain the virus and the validity of her own research and experience. Rachel pulled the syringe from Kate's arm and applied a cotton ball to the entry mark.

"Put pressure there and hold it for a moment." she instructed, Kate did as Rachel asked applying pressure to stem the bleeding and to minimise the bruising.

"So a couple of weeks or more for results?" Kate asked for clarification on the blood tests.

"Yes, I'll be running it on the side and it will be a broad range of tests. If you are able to give more than a few cryptic sentences to go on-"

"If I could, I would. But you'll have to talk to the Captain as he wants in your pants more than mine" Kate offered in a teasing manner to Rachel. She didn't really understand most of what Evan said, she knew it wasn't good. She had just hoped to convince Tom to just download the data packet and ask questions later instead of going off the transcripts because to her it read slightly insane and rather frightening. At least the Data packet was tangible information.

"He's happily married" Rachel told her.

"Just because you've ordered doesn't mean you can't look at the menu" Kate told her.

"That is a horrible analogy" Rachel told her.

"But it holds and anyway, I can't talk to the man. He hates me and frankly if he knew the truth after what you told me about last night? Well he'd only freak out and put me into quarantine which would be useless as I've been on the ship for months and no one has even caught a cold off me" Kate told her in a matter of fact manner.

"Not to mention the slight complication with the XO that would put you both in the same room again" Rachel added reminding Kate of the kiss she and Mike shared on the bridge. Something Kate wished Rachel would forget just so then she couldn't bring it up reminding Kate of how she wanted more.

"Yeah, can we pretend that didn't happen?" Kate asked with a hopeful tone as she really didn't want it to become a topic for conversation. Ever. Her and Mike, it was between them.

"No" Rachel said with a smile as she placed all of the vials into a plastic snap lock back and storing it away in a cooler bag.

"Oh you're cruel" Kate said mockingly.

"Coming from the woman who proclaims I'm in a love triangle" Rachel replied in an equally mocking tone as she finished cleaning up.

"Once, I said it once" Kate told her, holding up one finger to emphasise the number of times.

"Come on, let's go get some breakfast" Rachel told her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

"I need you to talk to Lassiter about the gaping holes in the transcripts. I think she'll be more open to speak about it with you" Tom said, he knew it was abusing Mike's past relationship with Kate but he knew Kate would never open up to him. Not without Tom apologising and he was not in the wrong, at least in his opinion he was not in the wrong. Mike however had the power to get Kate to open up or so Tom hoped. He could tell Kate had a soft spot and Mike was it.

"With respect I'm not going to talk to Lassiter for you unless it's something other than the transcripts" Mike told him in a firm tone, Tom reared back in confusion as Mike was not one to argue orders so calmly and politely. It was rare for Mike to buck the system but when he did he got angry like when Tom decided to change mission statement on the Nathan James and keep them all on board to help keep Dr Scott protected while she worked on a vaccine.

"You spoke with Tophet. Can't you use your talents on her to get her to talk?" Tom argued.

Mike sat back in his chair as he didn't like where this conversation was going. The crew was edgy after last night and Mike had just come off the night watch. He only had a chance to have breakfast and quick shower before he and Tom sat down to talk about what their plans were. The tone on the ship had changed dramatically since last night's scare. Mike couldn't help but feel the wide gap between himself and the crew as if he and Tom were somehow no longer trusted, the suspicion and distrust was more noticeable. It different from the sense of separation he normally felt given when the mission had a 'need to know' component that the crew weren't read into. This morning was different and he didn't like it nor did he like the questions being raised but their options on what to do about it were limited and the situation in Mike's opinion was far more important than what Kate left out of the transcripts in that moment.

"I don't have personal history with Tophet" Mike said as he tried not to shift uncomfortably at what Tom was suggesting. For the remainder of his watch duty Mike had spent his time between focussing on his duties and thinking about his long term goals. He had come to some rather startling realisations and made some heady decisions about his life. There was also the fact that Mike wasn't going to fracture the tentative peace between himself and Kate. He cherished the memories of himself and Kate together and would not utilise them because Tom managed to tick Kate off. Those two had to sort it out between them without him playing mediator.

Tom didn't look happy with him as he leaned forward in his chair and looked at Mike with a serious expression.

"Mike, just between friends here; I know you two had a relationship while you were legally separated from Christina. I turned a blind eye to it because you were discreet about it and technically it's a grey area in USMJ. Also because you're my best friend and it's not my place to get into your life and mess with it. But what happened between you two back then?" Tom asked as he couldn't help but feel suspicious of Mike's refusal. He would have thought Mike would jump on the chance to interrogate Kate considering Mike had made a point of being rather passive aggressive towards Kate for the past few months. Tom let it slide because he always thought Kate had burned Mike.

"You're right it is none of your business" Mike said as he knew Tom never approved of Mike having a relationship with Kate. While he appreciated Tom looking the other way, Mike knew there was no explanation that Tom would understand.

It wasn't personally about Kate but about the fact that legal separation was like limbo. You weren't exactly single but you weren't exactly married either but it was easier to remain married than go through a messy divorce. Mike hadn't thought too deeply on the subject because with Kate; she was a mental and physical escape that turned into something more. Something he and Kate had pretended didn't exist but knew was there. It was still there even after the years apart.

"Give me a reason besides your personal history to why you don't want to touch this topic with her" Tom said in a tone that was more like an order than an encouragement from a friend.

"Because I'm not going to demoralise myself or Kate just because you're suspicious of what she left out of the transcripts" Mike told him, as he had a feeling Tom would give him carte blanche to get the information out of Kate. Tom gave him an incredulous look and sat back in his own chair looking at Mike.

"You still care about her" Tom said as he couldn't believe he hadn't realised it until now. Sure he knew there was some residual feelings of what he assumed was bitter resentment but he was wrong.

"Yes and before you ask there's nothing going on" Mike said firmly even though it was a half lie. He wanted something more to happen. There was no point in denying it to himself, hell he'd settle for a few hours to blow off some steam and to not feel like crap scrapped off someone's shoe. They had all been cooped up on this ship for too long considering before this assignment they had barely gotten back from 6 month deployment.

"But you want something to happen" Tom said though his tone was slightly accusatory in nature.

"I'm married, I know the rules and unlike Lt Green I can keep my pants zipped and not have my personal issues affect my duties" Mike told him, his tone dark as he didn't appreciate Tom insinuations that Mike would jeopardize the ship and many lives for one person.

"I didn't think it would but it leaves me in a bind" Tom said rubbing a hand down his face in exhaustion.

"You mean where you have to apologise to Lassiter" Mike said trying not to look amused. He didn't even know what Tom said to tick Kate off but it had to have been good and no way in hell was Mike going jump in Tom's proverbial grave.

"I'm not apologising to her" Tom snapped. He looked rather petulant in Mike's opinion was rather amusing.

"That's your business but it would probably help" Mike told him holding up his hands as he really didn't want to get into Tom's problem with Kate. He was not going to be the middle man between them.

"Can't I persuade you-" Tom started but Mike shook his head.

"No" Mike told him.

"The only reason I could think of you saying 'no' is because you want to keep the option of getting back together with her open" Tom said hitting the proverbial nail on the head. "But I know you wouldn't leave Christina" Tom told him, Mike wasn't going to dispel Tom of his notions because as Captain the man needed plausible deniability but Mike was going to leave Christina. He already had emotionally, it was just the legal sense that had his hands tied for the moment.

"I'm not even going to go there" Mike told him, as it was truly none of Tom's business even if it was true. Mike had decided he did want his options open and he didn't want Kate to misinterpret his intentions when he made them known.

"Go there with her or finish the discussion with me?" Tom asked him out of curiosity.

"Are we speaking as Captain and XO? Or as Friends?" Mike asked him, quirking an wasn't going to tell Tom anything about Kate.

"Friends because we both know what I'll say as Captain" Tom told him, yeah the Captain would say give Kate a wide berth and not get involved because while they had thrown out most of the rules, Tom was arbitrary about which rules he kept. Hell, Mike was sure Tom was arbitrary about what information would be kept between friends as well. It wasn't worth the risk finding out the hard way.

Mike was about to tell Tom for the second time in that hour that whatever was between Kate and himself was none of his business, that he was not going to tell him anything and to stop making a big deal of it but was cut off when a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in" Tom said not breaking eye contact with Mike as if assessing his loyalty or at least that's what it felt like.

Jeter came into the room and wore a grim expression. "I apologise Gentlemen" he said as he closed the door behind him. "But we got a problem. A couple of the enlisted men came to me. They were speaking for a larger group. 16 to be exact. They want off the ship" Jeter told them.

Tom and Mike exchanged looks as this was one of those moments they had been dreading since hell broke loose.

"Who are they?" Mike asked Jeter, the man opened up his folder and pulled out a piece of paper. He was feeling a mixture of anger and jealousy rise within him. He wanted off the ship as much as the next person, but he would never do so until their mission was finished even if it ate at him. What made him angry though was the betrayal of the people on the list. They were all in it together, personal issues aside and to want to jump ship after one scare just spoke poorly of his and Tom's leadership.

"You should know they were very respectful" Jeter said as he handed Mike the page. Mike couldn't care less if the crew members were respectful. He looked down the list and noted the names. Majority were non essential crew but there were a few people on the list they needed. It was going to cause problems for sure if they left and if the Captain allowed them to leave then what would they do when vital personnel wanted off the ship?

Mike gave a slight huff and then looked to Tom who was trying to read his expression. He gave Tom the piece of paper. The man took it and looked down this list. He dragged his hand across his mouth as he read the names.

"Their enlistments are up all 16. Since we did not reup them, technically they are not in the Navy any more" Jeter said, he moved his hands behind his back so he was standing in a relaxed military posture "I didn't know what to tell them" Jeter said to the men.

"Are you suggesting we let them go?" Mike asked Jeter, cutting straight to the issue at hand.

"How do you think they'll feel if we try to stop-loss them. It'll mean holding them against their will. I mean we're not El Toro" Jeter said 'El Toro' with clear disgust, something they all shared but here they were in a similar situation.

"And what kind of message will that send to the rest of the crew? they can just leave when things get uncomfortable?" Mike asked in annoyed tone but he felt was a lightly petulant manner to his ears though it couldn't be helped. The way Tom was looking, he could only think the man would let the 16 people go and it seemed unfair but then when was anything about their lives lately been fair?

"Well we all knew this moment might come didn't we?" Jeter asked, his tone reminded Mike of his mother when he was warned not to do something but invariably did it anyway.

She would use the same tone as if to say 'you knew what would happen, so what's your contingency plan now?', being a mediator she was all about meeting halfway and negotiating everything. It made being a kid fun, a teenager not so great as every small infraction took hours because she like to talk out their options. It would have been quicker if she just punished him and be done with it but if she had, then he wouldn't have learned to utilise the skills he unintentionally learnt from her to apply to his work as cop.

Tom looked between the two men, Mike could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. By the look on his face Mike had a feeling he was not going to like what Tom was planning to do. Though it wasn't like Tom's plans since they ended up here had made him happy, except the part where they lived to fight another day. That was the only upside.

"Sir?" Jeter prompted Tom.

"Give me a couple of hours to think about this" Tom told them.

"Your orders until then?" Mike asked.

"As you are" Tom told them, he placed the piece of paper on the table and looked to Jeter and Mike. "You're dismissed until further notice" he told them, he watched as Mike rose from his chair and left the room with Jeter.

Once the door was closed Tom dropped his head into his hands and gave a sigh of frustration. He really wished they could have a small reprieve before the next drama but it wasn't going to happen and right now he needed to find a way to convince the 16 on the list to stay and for the rest of the crew not to follow their lead. He also needed to read up on Rachel again and Kate, perhaps there would be something in their personnel files that could help him. Even if Kate's personnel file was spotty at best and lacking a photo. It made him wondered what he could trust in any of the personnel files he had of both women could be trusted but it was all he had.

So he rose from his chair and moved to the filing cabinet and pulled out the bottom draw sifting through the files until he found the right names. Once he found them, he pulled both files out and tossed them onto his desk.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Tex asked Kate who was standing on a ladder fiddling with the Helo engines or at least it looked like fiddling to Tex.

"I'm just checking everything out" Kate told him as she closed the hatch to the engine and came down the ladder. "What's up?" Kate asked him, as she strolled over to the work bench and picked up a rag and wiped the excess grease from her hands and forearms. She'd need to wash the grease off later but at least she wouldn't have any issues of transfer onto her normal clothes. The luck of being lent a navy blue jumpsuit by one of the flight crew for when she wanted to muck around with the Helo.

"I was wondering how you're doing" Tex said as he pulled out a stool and sat down at the work bench watching her as she scrubbed her hands with the rag. She'd wash them properly later and then debate whether to leave her wedding ring off or not. She didn't wear it while flying or working on the engine because it would get dirty or refract the light which was a distraction she didn't want even if it was a minor one.

"With what?" Kate asked as she moved from her hands to scrub a stubborn spot of black oil on her arm with the rag. It was a useless task but it gave her a reason to not look him in the eyes.

"Evan" Tex stated.

"There isn't much to say. He's dead" Kate told him with a casual tone as she really didn't want to talk about Evan or anything that would bring down her rather neutral mood. Neutral was better than what she had been feeling the last few days. Today, she had been just stuck to distracting herself and it had worked until now. But then she wondered why Tex wanted to talk about Evan when he wouldn't even talk about the friends he lost at Gitmo or his daughter.

"Kate- Tex started but Kate cut him off as she tossed the rag onto the bench and folded her arms looking at him.

"Tex, when was the last time you had a medical work up for your contract?" she asked him, changing the topic.

"Over a year ago. I was about due before all hell broke loose" Tex said, he frowned at the line of questioning.

"Fair enough" Kate said storing the information away. She wondered if he was like her, that he could become a asymptomatic carrier. She really needed to nut up and talk to Tom about getting the Data Packet. She was pretty sure she couldn't wait weeks for the test results as she was already on the edge of her seat waiting and it had only been a few hours ago that Rachel had taken her blood.

"Why?" Tex asked her.

"Just curious" Kate asked as she didn't want to get into the details with him. He didn't need to weighed down with her knowledge yet.

"No you're not" Tex said narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her.

"Well-" Kate started but the P.A. activated.

"_Attention Nathan James, all hands report to the Flight Deck immediately. All hands report to the Flight deck" _a female voice announced over the speakers.

"Kate" Tex prompted, Kate gave him a smile as interior door to the Helo bay opened and people started walking through the bay to the flight deck.

"We'll talk later" Kate lied as she had no intention of talking about it later. She moved to the open Hangar door and looked out to the flight deck. The crew was slowly getting into formation. Officers to the right side of the deck facing the left side of the ship whilst the enlisted and NCO's stood in formation facing the forward looking to the direction of the bow.

Mike, Jeter and Tom all stood at the front looking imposing as they always did as they silently commanded the crew's attention. In a matter of ten minutes everyone was assembled. Tex had even prodded Kate outside of the Helo bay and onto the flight deck, they moved to back of officers formation. Tex stood tall and proud something that was old habit for someone from the Military while Kate leaned against the railing, she did so purposefully as she didn't want to be in Mike or the Captain's eye line. After a few moments of silence, Tom spoke up. His voice booming loud enough so those at the back could hear him.

"I've made some mistakes these past few days. In the ways I've handled information, kept you in the dark about our mission. Cause I'm trying to protect you from the truth which is painful. That was a poor decision on my part. I am you captain, I am your leader and you have every right to be disappointed in me but that does not mean that you should give up hope. Because this mission isn't about me and it's not about you." Tom nodded towards Mike and he picked up his shoulder radio "It's about them" Tom said gesturing upwards.

After a couple seconds, the loud speakers started to pump out radio calls.

_"My name's Henry, I'm up at Portland Maine, I'm not sick but we're running out of food. If anyone knows of any good hunting grounds in the area. Sure could use a tip" _A man said, the channel changed and another message was played. The messages kept playing through the ship's speakers of people's disparity, their hope for a cure, people dying. Kate looked down at the ground as she didn't want to hear it. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that there was nothing she could do. So her pragmatic side told her there was no point in swimming in the guilt. The messages stopped and Tom spoke again.

"That is out problem" Tom told them, Kate looked up and saw him nod to Jeter who moved to Helo bay 1 to get it open "In there is the solution" Tom said, the door slowly opened shining light into the bay. Showing the quarantine tent that housed Dr Scott's makeshift lab.

"Come with me" Tom said gesturing to them all. Tex nudged her shoulder and Kate pushed off the railing to follow him as the crew slowly moved into the Helo bay one. It was funny how it looked so much smaller when the room was brightly lit with natural lighting and over a couple hundred people standing around it.

Kate followed Tex, hugging the walls until they found a prime view over the heads of the crew. It took a little ingenuity but Kate standing on a small storage box, holding onto an exposed pillar for support looked down at Rachel. The woman was dressed up in her CBR gear standing inside the makeshift lab. Kate looked to Tex and shook her head as the man wore a goofy smile as he stared at Rachel.

Kate barely tuned in as Tom told the crew Rachel's story. Kate had already heard it before. Everyone's focus was between the Captain and Rachel but Kate didn't listen as she accidentally locked eyes with Mike. The man was staring straight at her and it was not the kind of look one gave their ex who they were supposed to 'hate'. He looked at her with slight concern mixed with keen interest. Her heart rate quickened and her cheeks warmed as she felt slightly flustered as to why he was acting so out of character. Or maybe she was reading too much into it but before she could figure it out; Mike moved his eyes onwards and started looking around the other faces in the room.

Mike looked around room as Dr Scott spoke, he did so because he was gauging the crew's response. He hadn't meant to stare at Kate but his eyes just naturally gravitated to Kate as she and Tex managed to prop themselves a little higher than the crew. She looked better than she had yesterday, her hair was tied back in a messy bun and she had grease marks on her neck and on her hands as she wore a navy workman's jumpsuit. It hadn't missed his attention that she wasn't wearing her wedding ring as her left hand gripped the wall for balance. There was no gold glint on her hand, he wondered if it meant something but right now was not the time for him to speculate. He also didn't need Tom catching him staring at Kate

"It's easy to believe in people when they are succeeding" Tom looked into the Lab at Rachel "But that's not what we're about" Tom said as he looked at Rachel, Kate could have sworn she saw the two share a smile before he continued. "We have to believe in each other when we fail and if we have to go back to Nicaragua for more monkeys then we will" Tom continued but Kate's attention waned again.

Kate had no doubt that Tom could sell water to a fish but she found his speech a little over the top for her tastes. But it worked for the crew even Jeter and Mike puffed their chests out looking proud to be a member of the crew and they believed the Captain's fortitude and the hope he was bestowing on the crew. She wrote it off as an American thing as she had never had a superior officer give such long winded talks about being a team and hope and the 'ra-ra' of being honoured to be a part of something bigger. No most of the talks she had received had been short and sweet with some promise of free 'slab' of beer. Not that they ever got the beer but the sentiment was nice at the time the speech was given. She was in the middle of calculating how much beer her former CO owed her when Tom's words sifted through her thoughts catching her attention.

"- The chiefs and officers on this ship will share with you what we know good or bad" he said, Kate's brows drew together as she wondered if that transparency he was giving the crew included Evan's transcripts. An uneasy feeling filled her as Tom continued to talk about crew members wanting to leave but Kate didn't care. She was more concerned for herself. Leaving the ship wasn't an option for her not with what Evan had told her and most definitely since she had nothing to go home to. She didn't even have a home. She looked down at the ground as if it held all the answers as she waited for the Captain to finish talking when Tex placed a hand her shoulder catching her attention. She looked to him and he gave her a look of concern.

"You ok?" he mouthed at her, Kate gave a tight nod even though it wasn't true. She really needed to get out of the Helo bay and quick but knew she wasn't going anywhere until the meeting was over.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

They had just wrapped up what Mike liked to call the 'afternoon school special' in Helo bay one. After the crew were dismissed. Mike had stayed behind to kick out the last stragglers and answer questions before closing the large bay door; giving Dr Scott her lab back to return to her work. Once the large door had shuttered closed he looked around and noticed Kate standing at the back of ship by herself. For some reason he didn't want to waste any more time and decided it was time to talk with her. Even if the flight deck wasn't exactly private but at least he could see anyone coming towards them to end the conversation if he needed to as he didn't want the crew knowing his personal life.

"Lassiter, you're looking brighter today" Mike commented as he moved to stand by Kate's side as she stood at the back railing of the ship. She looked out at the ocean, her hands gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles were white. He wondered what was eating at her as he had seen her look slightly panicked in the Helo bay during Tom's speech

"I'm getting along alright" Kate said as she loosened her grip on the railing and looked to Mike. He had his back to the ocean view looking to the flight deck and ship. She had wanted to be left alone to enjoy some fresh air and sunlight, Tex forgetting that he wanted to know what she was keeping secrets. Some that may or may not concern him. She wouldn't know more until the results were in and even then she needed the information in the Data packet. Everything she assumed or knew for certain was tightly wound up inside of her to the point that it was painful. She was not made to keep secrets, when she was in military it was different. She had orders but now being a civilian; these decisions, the secrets she kept were of her own doing and she hated as she knew it would bite her in the ass.

"Good" Mike said Kate frowned at him as she was suspicious to why he was being nice to her. She thought perhaps last night had been an aberration or perhaps she had been hallucinating but right now there was no convenient excuse.

"Is this some kind of mind game where you're going to wheedle out all my secrets and giggle about them with the Captain?" Kate asked Mike, he looked amused as he shook his head.

"No, but we do have to talk" Mike told her. Kate leaned down and propped her elbows on the railing for a brief moment and rubbed her face with her hands.

"I take it this is about the transcripts?" Kate asked in an exhausted tone she had hoped Mike wouldn't get into it with her. She was tired of the interrogation tactics and she knew that any insult Mike threw her way would hurt a lot more than anything Tom could come up with though Tom's comment about her 'bending over backwards for a man' had stung her ego.

"That's between you and the Captain" Mike told her.

"You're staying out of it?" Kate asked him, her tone sceptical as she wasn't sure whether to believe him. She truly wanted to let her guard down around him, actually she wanted to break down and just say everything on her mind but couldn't.

"I'll do a lot of things for my country-" Mike started but Kate cut him off.

"But you won't 'do' me" Kate said in a dry tone as she found it thoroughly amusing if somewhat a little disappointing because no woman liked to know she was undesirable. She straightened up and turned to face him and folded her arms across her chest taking up a defensive posture.

_I guess it shows he has more integrity than you_… Kate thought as she was sure if their roles were reversed she couldn't say she'd have the same respect but she was craving physical comfort right now. Her mind was showing her a rather lovely film of memories reminding her of exactly what was hiding under that uniform he wore and how very capable he was at making her forget her own name with pleasure.

"Not for my country or under orders from the Captain" Mike told her, he locked eyes with her and she clearly saw what he was thinking. Kate's heart sped up slightly as her body decided it was time to wake up and become fully aware of the man standing next to her. He was definitely clear in his message as she knew that look in his eyes. He used to give her that look whenever they met up, and usually within 5 minutes or less they'd end up in bed. She wondered why he was intentionally giving her mixed messages because right now it was incredibly annoying and frustrating.

"Smooth." Kate replied as she didn't know what else to say because there was no way she was going to tell him that he shouldn't look at her like that way. It would only feed into his ego and frankly she wasn't sure if he was playing her. If he was then it crush her ego as she would come off as some weak needy woman, sure it was ok for her to know and acknowledge that part of her but she wasn't going to let anyone see it.

"I wouldn't want you to think-"

"That you were betraying me? What is going on here?" Kate asked him.

"Part of being XO is looking after crew morale" Mike offered with a shrug as he thought he made the message pretty clear but obviously Kate needed it spelled out and if he were honest he wanted to be clear with her. He just needed time to work up to it. Kate gave a huff of laughter as she took a step back from him, he didn't have to wonder why as he saw her tuck her hands closer to her body. It was a defensive posture, one he expected.

"Well, I'll be back to 100% after a couple more good nights of sleep" Kate informed him in a blithe tone.

"Good to hear" Mike said casually. Silence lapsed between them and Kate began to wonder why he hadn't left to go do whatever else he did with his time. Several minutes passed before she couldn't keep quiet.

"Do you think those people are going to leave?" Kate asked him, mentally kicking herself as she was a coward. Her brain screamed at her to just ask him why he was still here and what he wanted. Were they going to talk about the kiss but she had just changed the direction of the conversation. You i_diot..._ Kate thought to herself.

"I don't know, you thinking of joining them?" he asked her, he looked to her waiting for her response as he saw how twitchy she had been in the lab. While her name wasn't on the list of those wanting to leave, he could understand her wanting leave the ship. They hadn't exactly made her feel welcome, himself included and he had no clue who or what she had waiting for her off the ship. But right now, he didn't see her wanting to escape instead he saw grief and loneliness flutter across her face and disappear behind a mask. Her features grew neutral like a well trained soldier but she couldn't hide the pain in her eyes.

"I have nothing and no one out there that needs me. I'll eventually head back to San Diego and bury what's left of Evan but he's not going anywhere" Kate said blithly with a shrug. If he didn't know her like he did, he would think she were incredibly callous but he knew the more flippant or apathetic Kate sounded about something signified that she cared deeply, she just didn't want to be emotional about it.

"At least I'm semi-useful, as long as there is fuel for the Helo and you guys need my ident. codes to the satellite networks. Anyway, I should let you get back to the bridge" Kate told him waving a dismissive hand at him and turning back to look at the ocean. Mike edged closer to her as he continued to lean his hip against the railing but kept his body facing the ship. He didn't want to appear confrontational or make her feel cornered.

"I'm off duty at the moment" Mike told her.

"Then I should let you go get some rest. Assuming you're on night watch" Kate told him as she gripped the railing with both hands and slightly leaned back, she didn't even look at him as she just wanted him to go. She wasn't sure what she hated more. Mike acting nice or being an asshole to her but right now she wanted him to be the asshole because then she knew she wouldn't be disappointed when he left, the bubble of hope that had been ever present in her for the past 4 and half years that he would come back would slowly fade away.

"Can't we just share this bit of railing for a while?" Mike asked her, it got her attention as she looked at him. She leaned back with her arms locked and keeping her grip on the railing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Kate asked him with an odd look on her face. Mike chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine" he assured her.

"So I'm hallucinating. That's just dandy" Kate drawled sarcastically.

"Why would you think that?" Mike asked her in an amused tone.

"Because you're being nice to me and hanging around me which you've spent a good 4 month not doing. It's confusing and giving me mixed messages" Kate told him flat out as she was getting anxious for him to go. She knew she could walk away but she didn't want to.

"I'm not trying to confuse you" Mike told her earnestly, Kate wince at his words.

"You're doing a great job of it" She informed with a sigh as she considered for a brief moment that she might save herself a lot of grief if she just flung herself overboard and swim for the sure but she had a feeling Mike would follow her and drag her back because he obviously had something on his mind that he wanted to talk about. She just wished he would get to the point and just say what he wanted and be done.

"Well I figure ignoring you or being an asshole doesn't work-" Mike stopped as Kate interrupted him.

"Mike, I'm sure you're about to give me a well practised and lovely speech but just get to the point" Kate told him. He gave a nod, though he would have preferred the speech he had practised.

"I want us start over right now and wipe the slate clean" He said to her, Kate was surprised and wondered if maybe she should have heard the speech because now she was even more confused. She figured he'd tell her, the kiss meant nothing and that he did want her to leave the ship so then he could go back to whatever bubble he lived in where he pretended that his marriage with Christina was salvageable and worth it because his kids needed two parents. In some regards his thinking was very old fashioned in Kate's opinion but she liked that about him, he was a gentleman when he wanted to be except now where he was throwing her through a hoop.

"A clean slate?" Kate repeated dumbly as it was not what he expected to say. "You know you can never get slate completely clean?" Kate added even though what she really wanted to ask was why but was too chicken to.

"I know and I think we can agree. We both fucked up, it was supposed to be a fling and it became more" he said what they both hadn't been game enough to say years ago. "I'm not asking for you and I to pretend we're meeting for the first time, I don't want that." he told her.

"What do you want?" Kate asked feeling incredibly flustered as that bubble of hope in her chest grew a couple inches.

"A lot of things, but right now I want us to acknowledge that we still have something here that goes a little beyond physical attraction or old memories." He told her, Kate closed her eyes for a moment to calm her nerves and mustered her strength before she opened them and looked at him. She felt the constant yet subtle tension that had between them from day one of her being on the Nathan James flare up.

"Yeah it's called 4 years, 6 months and 12 or so hours where it seems what we feel hasn't changed but we are still at an impasse" Kate said bluntly as she wondered if she was reading way too much into what he was saying because it was like he was saying he wanted her back. But right now she had a feeling there was nothing to lose _except my pride..._ Kate thought to herself.

"I know and even you have to admit that we've changed from who we were then" Mike argued but he couldn't help but feel a zing of pleasure zap through him from her statement even if she was wrong. They weren't at an impasse.

"I'm still lost as to what you want from me and I would like you to be a little more specific about what you want from me" Kate said to him.

"I want us to get to know one another again-"

"To be friends?" Kate asked sceptically, because she knew she could try but ultimately she couldn't be friends with Mike. It wasn't the fact that she would have trouble keeping her hands to herself it was that she couldn't listen to his marital problems and watch him go back to his wife a second time. She still had feelings for Mike and that annoying bubble of hope that reasserted itself the past 24 hours.

"As something to build on" Mike said. Kate's eyes went wide for a moment.

"Build on what? One day you're going to leave the ship and reunite with Christina and your daughters" Kate told him, and just hearing her say those words crushed her just a little on the inside.

"One day I'm going to leave this ship and I want you with me as we track down my daughters if they are still alive. Christina and I are done-" Mike started but Kate gave a sardonic laugh and shook her head.

"Please excuse me if I'm sceptical about you being 'done' with your wife" Kate said in a rich tone.

"You're allowed to be which is one of the only saving graces of all this" he tilted his head towards the ship "It gives me time to prove to you that I'm serious about this" he told her.

"Tell me what changed your mind?" Kate asked him.

"I was in my CBR gear pacing the bridge and I realised I could continue failing at marriage or I could acknowledge I can't make it work because if I'm honest my heart isn't in it" he explained.

"And so your heart is serious in this. You and Me? where there hasn't been an 'us' in years" Kate asked him.

"I want to try now" He told her.

"Mike, I'm not a pair of shoes" Kate told him in a defeated tone. She threw up her hands in frustration "And look at where we are. It's not like you can slip off your ring and say 'hey, let's catch a movie'. " Kate added.

"I realise it's not going to be easy. Obviously while we're on the Nathan James I can't act as anything more than a friend but we can use this time to get to know one another better. Because once my duty here is finished and I step off this ship onto solid ground, I'm going to go find my kids. I want you with me, at my side. I let you go once before but now you're here it's a second chance" he told her.

"So you want me and what? my company resources?" Kate asked him wryly.

"You're so fucking paranoid. I want you" Mike told her, feeling aggravated that she wasn't taking him at face value.

"And your kids" Kate added.

"Them too but here right now, I'm telling you that I want you and this time I'm not walking away from we got here" he told her.

"On the bridge-" Kate started but he cut her off.

"I was angry and hurt, what I said. I was lashing out and yes there is a grain of truth to them but I've had time to think. That one year we had was better than the last 8 years of my marriage. I want you because I'd rather be with you and be happy than go back to a never ending cycle with Christina. I think if we just get to know one another again that we could have something worth keeping here. I want to seriously explore it" Mike told her, he saw the tears in her eyes as she took a step back and turned away from him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking and he wondered how she became so screwed up that she couldn't see what he was offering her. She pressed a hand to her forehead and her other hand on her hip and turned to face him.

She looked at him as if she wasn't entirely sure she could believe him. She opened her mouth to speak but shut it as she didn't know what to say. There he was the man she loved and let go, now standing before offering himself up on a plate to her. Yet all she could think was that it was some kind of trick not to be believed but she wanted to believe it. But she also wanted to break down and cry because she had waited for this moment and here it was and she was freaking out.

"I wasn't expecting this" Kate told him, he could see her wanting to say yes but there was a wariness about her like she was expecting him to snatch away the offer. "You're serious about this?" Kate asked him taking a step closer to him.

"I am, but as long as I'm on this ship. I have responsibilities and a standard of behaviour to uphold. To the crew and Tom; I'm married, which means I can't act as anything more than your friend. But like I said before once we're off this ship, I'm yours if you'll have me" Mike told her earnestly.

"Mike-" Kate started.

_"Commander Slattery, come in" _Jeter'svoice carried over the radio interrupting the moment. Mike was half tempted to smash the stupid thing as he wanted to know what Kate was going to say.

"Answer it" Kate told him.

"Go ahead" he said into his radio, he barely listened to whatever Jeter wanted him for as he was caught up in Kate. She looked so incredibly fragile that he wished they were somewhere more private than the flight deck as he would have wrapped her up in his arms. But he couldn't. He became vague aware that Jeter gave him a location and then he replied he was on his way. He looked down at Kate.

"You don't have to give me an answer now or tomorrow. Just think about it and let me know when you're ready" he told her. Kate gave a nod looking slightly relieved to be given a reprieve and he wondered if that was a good sign for him or not but he knew he couldn't pressure her. "I have to go" he said awkwardly and walked away.

As he did, he looked over his shoulder as he reached the side door to the Helo bay 2 and saw Kate had turned back to looking out at the ocean. He gave a sigh and opened the door heading inside. Now he just had to wait and hope that Kate wanted him as much as he did her.

* * *

A few hours later,

Kate knocked on the Captain's stateroom door. She had no idea if he was even in there but she needed to talk with him. She needed to convince him to download the data packet and suffer through him being an insufferable ass even if she was too exhausted. Mike's declaration still had her mind boggled and part of her reason for coming to Tom was that she didn't want to be suspicious of Mike intentions. She figured if she gave Tom some information it would somehow absolve her and give her some peace of mind at not having to keep track of the half truths. It was a head ache she didn't want so she was here to give Tom just enough information to hopefully earn her some much needed trust from him but not enough to condemn herself.

"Come in" Tom said, Kate opened the door to find him with a pile of paper work on his coffee table. Kate couldn't help but be amused that some things like paperwork never died. At least taxes weren't an any issue for the foreseeable future.

"Sorry to interrupt" Kate said moving to step back out but Tom waved her in not giving her a chance to leave.

"You're not, what is it Lassiter? Come to apologise?" Tom asked her, there was a slightly patronising lilt to his tone she didn't appreciate but then she knew he was having a shocker of a day.

"I don't apologise unless I feel it necessary. I came here to talk" Kate informed him as she closed the door behind her.

"About?" Tom asked, he gestured to the seat opposite him at the lounge.

"It depends on if it's not part of your 'transparency' kick with the crew" Kate said to him as she sat down in the chair, she really didn't want to be here but for her own peace of mind she stayed.

"Depends on what you tell me" Tom said rather contrarily.

"It's about the Data Packet" Kate told him knowing she deserved his comeback.

"I'm not going to break radio silence for sketchy intel" Tom informed her.

"It's not sketchy, it's months of information compiled from all over the world tailored specifically to help you with this mission" Kate said correcting him.

"How would you know for sure?" Tom asked.

"Because if you had known Evan you would know he doesn't do anything half assed. Why would he do so now?" Kate asked. Tom sat back in his chair and rubbed his face with both of his hands.

"I'm not going argue with you about this" he sighed in frustration.

"Good, then let me finish what I have to say before jumping down my throat" Kate snapped at him. She couldn't help but be annoyed.

"Ok" Tom said, he lowered his hands from his face and gave her an impatient look.

"I spoke with Rachel about the possible intel Evan has stored for us. I think there is research pertaining to research on the virus and possible theories on a vaccine" Kate said carefully, the news made Tom sit up and take attention.

"Why wasn't that in the translated transcripts or the report you gave me?" Tom asked her incredulously.

"Because I wanted to talk to Rachel about it first and I knew you'd flip your lid when I told you so I wanted to be sure of myself" Kate answered.

"I'm really doing my best not to get angry with you. So why don't you just tell me everything that you feel comfortable telling me" Tom said with as much patience as he could muster which was very little at the moment.

"There is a possibility that Evan had scientists working on a vaccine but they didn't get a chance to do a trial study due to unforeseen complications" Kate said.

"Unforeseen complications?" Tom looked at the coffee table for a long moment as exhaustion washed over her from trying to find the right words, so she didn't sound crazy or set Tom off. It also didn't help that she was thinking of what Mike would think once he found out. It would be a deal breaker for him. But here she was with Tom and all she could think was 'in for a penny in for a pound'.

"Lassiter Industries contractually has all of it's operators have bi-yearly medical physicals and booster shots unless there are extenuating circumstances. Either way, I'm assuming-"

"assuming?"

"The details Evan told me were too ambiguous at best. I wasn't sure of what he was saying and it was close to the time when his mind was deteriorating and the message became unintelligible. But I spoke with Rachel and she told me to come to you and make you aware" Kate told him.

"Ok, so you're assuming what?" Tom prompted her.

"The booster shots I had 8 months ago were not above board FDA wise because I believe somehow it may have turned some operators into asymptomatic carriers of the virus" Kate told him.

"So you-"

"I'm not infected nor am I a carrier but I have the potential to become one. I assume I'll become a carrier if I'm exposed but I won't know for sure until Dr Scott runs blood tests and she has the information in the data packet regarding the virus" Kate told him.

"I sat with you here only a few days ago talking about Dr Scott's failure to find a vaccine and you didn't tell me any of this"

"I hadn't slept for three days, I had a blinding headache excuse me if I didn't remember some minor details from a series of messages that was over 20 hours long. I wasn't my best and I remember us never actually discussing what was in the Data Packet before you insinuated that I was a whore" Kate told him in a matter of fact manner.

"I didn't call you a whore" Tom told her defensively but realising his bad choice of words as he meant something entirely different.

"Something about me bending over for a man. Sounds like you're calling a whore or a slut because you never accused me of gaining something from being promiscuous" Kate said in a cold tone.

"We're getting off topic" Tom said as he knew better than to get into a conversation about a woman's sex life.

"You're right" Kate admitted, she pulled out a piece of folded paper from her pocket and tossed it on the table. "The uplink and download should take less than a minute, on the paper is my identification code, my army service number, my birthday and a bunch of random letters Evan made me memorize for company stuff like this assume and anything else I could remember that he would use as an encryption password. It's all yours" Kate told him in an ungrateful manner as she just handed him more than she wanted to but knew it was the only way to move forward.

"But it's not everything" Tom said. Kate gave him shrug and a tired smile.

"It's the best I can give you. The rest of the untranslated transcripts are mine until I read what's in the Data Packet which you'll have full access to anyway. But I'd prefer you not tell the crew about this or share that information on the paper to anyone except Mike. So are we good?" Kate asked him as she rose from her chair getting ready to leave.

"We'll see" Tom told her.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews and story favourites.. Also welcome to new readers :-D... P.S. all the science and Helo operations stuff is entire B.S. so let it slide and enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 22**

* * *

A few days later,

"What's up with Lassiter?" Grodin asked Tex in the ward room during breakfast. Mike who was half way through his own breakfast; paused mid sip of his second coffee of the morning to listen. Considering how low the stores on coffee was becoming he knew he should start to cut back so when they did run back his withdrawal would be easier but couldn't bring himself to so yet.

"What do you mean?" Tex asked Grodin casually. Mike looked between the two men gauging the conversation and wondering if he should just listen or shut it down.

"She's been quiet the last few days. Is she sick or something?" Grodin asked in an idle tone but Mike had a feeling the kid was more worried about never getting back in the sky than he was about Kate's well being.

Though Mike hadn't seen Kate the last few days but then he had heard that she had been hitting the gym and sleeping more. Doc Rios cleared her for flight duty and the reason he heard about her being in the gym was that he overheard Lt Granderson talking with Lt Foster about how she couldn't believe the muscle control and flexibility Kate had performed whilst doing her yoga practice. It wasn't something new as he had seen her practise before. But he had to admit he was glad it was the women talking as they tended to be more respectful and save their 'dirty' talk about who was 'hot' or not to their quarters where he would never hear it.

Saved him from clipping them upside the head and reminding them to be respectful and hearing scuttlebutt kept him updated considering he was giving Kate the time she needed to think over his declaration. Even if he did feel like six kinds of stupid for letting her have time to think on it. Only because it left him in limbo waiting for an answer but it did give him a few days breathing room to only confirm that he hadn't been going on a gut reaction. In fact the more time that passed the more certain he was that it was the right decision.

Even if he had felt he was forever justifying his decisions in his mind so he didn't feel like a selfish ass. An example was that once he was off the Nathan James he would find his daughters. His love for them didn't diminish and he realised his failure of marriage should be a reflection on them. He knew he could wait it out for another decade with Christina but then what kind of message did that send his kids about a healthy relationship. There was the fact it would be a miserable decade and he wanted to selfish, he wanted to be happy and he knew in his gut that Kate was it. She was the missing piece and he just hoped she would say 'yes' and come with him as he really liked the idea of being with her again. But until then he'd have to wait until then he'd keep moving forward and doing his job.

"Hey Doc, you're bunk mates with Red. She coming down with something?" Tex asked Rachel who had just come into the wardroom to pour herself a fresh cup of tea.

"I assure you she is perfectly healthy and frankly I prefer she get some sleep than have to deal with you and your pathetic infatuation with her" Rachel said rather snidely. It was obvious the recent failures were starting to get to Rachel as she usually quietly slipped in and out of the ward room without getting involved with the crew let alone talking to them. Mike wondered if he should shut the conversation down as her slightly aggressive comment raised a lot of eyebrows in the room.

"I'm not infatuated with Lassiter" Grodin told her flat out making a face. Mike tried not to laugh as he placed his coffee on the table and picked up his knife and fork to continue eating.

"My apologies, it just seems for someone who dislikes Kate; you have a rather unhealthy obsession about where she is and how she is" Rachel said in a mockingly thoughtful manner as she moved around the table heading for the door.

"That is true maybe I should be asking what your intentions towards Red are being as I am the only person on board whose known her the longest." Tex said scratching his chin in a thoughtful manner joining Rachel in baiting Grodin. Mike watched as the kid fell for the game as his cheeks went red and his jaw dropped.

"I have no intentions towards Lassiter like that. She's just my co-worker. That's all" Grodin told Tex in a firm manner. Tex gave a wry smile at the man but before he could reply Kate got in first.

"Well that's comforting because I'd hate to break your heart kid" Kate said as she came into the wardroom. She stepped to side as Rachel passed her leaving the room to go back to her lab to work.

"I'm not a kid and-" Grodin started but Kate cut him off.

"Relax, I'm stirring you but just in case you get tempted the answer is no because you don't have enough stamina and imagination to keep me entertained" Kate told him with a mocking smile as she moved to the tea and coffee station and made herself a cup of peppermint tea. Chuckles emitted from the others in the room who had been pretending to mind their own business. She couldn't help but bait Grodin as he tended to be an easy target.

"Lassiter" Mike said in tone giving her a subtle warning to remind her that sex was a taboo conversation in the wardroom.

"Apologies, Commander" Kate said locking eyes with him and looking slightly chastised as she took the empty chair beside Tex. Mike gave her a mock patient look and went back to his breakfast. A slight smile graced his lips, any earlier thoughts that made her believe he might have ulterior motives when he wanted to have a relationship with her. In fact the last few days had been hellish as hadn't been sure of him or even herself in what she wanted. It wasn't like their situation gave Kate a lot of hope. There were too many variables, too many unknowns and she wasn't ready to jump back into their intense relationship but she was ready for the comfort of having a partner. The comfort she remembered so vividly from their time together.

"Red, you feeling ok?" Tex asked Kate breaking her from her thoughts of Mike and making her blush slightly as she had practically been staring at the man. _could you be more obvious..._ Kate mentally chastised herself.

Mike wondered for a moment if she was alright as she had completely spaced out and had been looking in his direction. He wore a confused expression while inwardly pleased as a slight blush graced her cheeks. She moved her eyes to the table in front of her and pursed her lips in annoyance at the question and Mike didn't blame her. She looked healthy, well rested, there was no real signs of illness except for the slight shadow under her eyes. She looked good dressed in her usual get up of a white v-neck and black skinny jeans with her hair pulled back in a messy bun.

"Fine, yourself?" Kate asked Tex as she slouched down in the chair getting comfortable. She wished people would stop freaking out about a possible outbreak on the ship and looking to her as if she could be a source because she had nothing better to do with her time besides sleep, yoga and watching TV. That and stew over how or when she would be able to talk to Mike again without broadcasting it to the whole crew.

"Good, so you're not sick?" Tex asked her, Kate gave him a droll look.

"Do I look sick to you?" Kate asked him in annoyed tone. Tex gave a shrug.

"No but Grodin was real worried about you since you're becoming a space cadet" Tex said in a mock serious tone. Kate made a derisive noise and shook her head.

"Grodin should be more worried about himself" Kate told Tex ignoring the comment about her being a space cadet.

"I'm right here" Grodin said as he obviously didn't like how Tex and Kate spoke as if he wasn't in the room.

"I know and could we all talk about weather or something a little more exciting than me and Grodin's weird fixated paranoia on my health?" Kate asked.

* * *

"Remember I told you I discovered an extra gene on the virus. All this time I was struggling to figure out where it came from. It turns out it's a human gene" Rachel said with a cautious manner as she wasn't entirely sure how Captain Chandler would react. Sometimes he was too hard for her to decipher and this was one of those times as he stared right at her barely blinking with his serious expression. It made her feel like she was in the principal's office trying to talk herself out of getting into trouble.

They stood outside the quarantined area that was her work space for the last few months. She hadn't wanted to talk to him about what she had found as it only asked more questions that she didn't have answers for. Yet. But still Tom liked to invade her space and ask for updates so she gave him what she could which never felt like enough.

"Someone added a human gene to the virus, why?" Tom asked her.

"I have no idea. But no matter what I try the virus seems to be one step ahead of me. It's outsmarting whatever I throw at it. What's worse is that it has made the original virus ten times more lethal and virtually indestructible." Rachel said she hated how she couldn't just stand still and look directly at him but she was waiting for him to shout at her. She wasn't afraid of his anger, it was that she would never be able to restore his faith in her abilities.

"How many monkeys do you have left? Three?" Tom asked her, she could sense the disappoint edging into his tone as he looked into the makeshift quarantine zone with the three monkeys in their cages.

"Two" Rachel corrected him. Tom pursed his lips and seemed to think on the situation. She could only assume he was assessing whether they should go back to Nicaragua or remain where they were before he looked to her.

"Ok, well what about Lassiter's test results?" Tom asked changing the topic, it threw her for a moment as she expected him to ask if she wanted them to turn the ship around to Nicaragua for more monkeys not about Kate. The redhead whom also was rather an enigma genetically speaking, something Rachel had yet to finish fully analysing.

"Preliminary results are somewhat intriguing" Rachel remarked downplaying it as she wasn't entirely sure what she should tell Tom given she hadn't even spoken to Kate yet. But then Rachel wasn't even entirely sure of what she had found which was why she decided to keep the answers clean and short.

"How so?" Tom asked following her.

"Kate didn't tell me what to look for so I did a broad range of blood tests" Rachel said, she brought up the preliminary test results and images of Kate's blood work. She knew it would mean nothing to Tom but felt it would help her explain it to him.

"So what's intriguing about it?" he asked there was a slightly mocking lilt as he felt the choice of words not to be very comforting.

"She had been exposed to the original virus" Rachel said stating the most relevant information to their situation. She wasn't sure how she was going to explain that Kate's blood test results told her that Kate was in amazing health. Something Rachel hadn't expected given the fact Kate had suffered a concussion and sleep deprivation before the testing. It wasn't normal, nor was the fact that Kate seemed to bounce back to being healthy in such quick form. So Rachel had dug deeper looking at her genetics. She hadn't been able to look at the results properly yet but what she did see shocked her nearly as much as finding the human gene attached to the virus had.

"I thought you tested-" Tom started to berate her or so she assumed he was going to so she cut him off.

"I tested anyone who was off the ship who came into contact with the sick. Kate was not one of them but before you interrupt again let me assure you that she is not contagious or a even carrier of the virus. The strain she was exposed to was the original strain I first encountered in Egypt which did not have the human gene attached to it" Rachel told him.

"Why wouldn't she tell us about this?" Tom asked her.

"Because I don't think she knows" Rachel told him.

"Then could you use her blood to make a vaccine?" Tom asked her, his tone hopeful but Rachel shook her head.

"No, because I don't believe she is immune to the current strain-" Rachel didn't get to finish her sentence as the door to the lab swung open and Mike leaned into the room. Rachel and Tom looked to him, Mike wore a serious expression not even apologetic for interrupting them.

"Captain, I require you and Dr Scott in the CIC immediately. Ensign Mason has found something I think you need to hear" Mike told them.

* * *

A few minutes later in the CIC.

"Sir, she's an 18 year old girl from Jamaica. She's on a fishing boat off the coast St John point. I first logged her three weeks ago; there were 50 people on her boat. Week later we heard her again but then there were only 15 people left" Ensign Mason told them as he held the log book in his hand. The kid looked incredibly anxious as he wasn't sure who to address as he looked between Tom, Mike and Rachel.

"And now she's alone" Tom said. Mason nodded.

"So if everyone on the boat has died from the virus and she's the only one alive. Then it could be that she's naturally immune" Rachel speculated. Tom perked up at that information.

"You want us to find her?" Tom asked Rachel.

"No I need you to find her" Rachel told him firmly as her mind raced a million miles an hour at the possibility of finding person immune to the virus. "If I can take a look at her DNA, I might be able to figure a way to beat this thing" she said. Tom was about to ask her about Kate's blood work given that Rachel had been interrupted by this. But Mike spoke first.

"It's awfully convenient" Mike said playing devil's advocate. He knew he called the meeting but he didn't like the situation and now he could feel trouble brewing as he mentally assessed the situation.

"You think it's a trap?" Tom asked him saying out loud what Mike was thinking.

"I don't know." Mike said to Tom he looked to Rachel "How many immune people in the world?" he asked the Doctor.

"It would be incredibly rare but of course they exist" Rachel told them.

"Are you absolutely sure that it's been this girl's voice on the radio the entire time" Tom asked Mason.

"I know that voice" Mason told him. Tom thought over it for a moment, feeling everyone's eyes on him as he made his decision.

"Gator" Tom said, he looked over to the navigator station in the CIC where the Ensign on duty looked up and acknowledged his rank with a 'sir'. "Any idea where she might be?" Tom asked him, the man took a moment looking at the map and then back at Tom.

"I have 4 RDF bearings from some of her earlier transmissions. 60% confidence of her position within a 10 mile radius" he answered, Tom took a breat and looked down at the floor as it wasn't exactly what he was hoping to hear. He looked to Mike.

"Boat that size still take hours to find her. If we found her at all" Tom said in a low voice to Mike, his XO murmured a noise of agreement as he nodded his head and looked ready to put in his two cents. Something Tom knew would be along the lines of 'let's not bother' when Ensign Mason spoke.

"Sir, she's all alone out there. She's running out of water, we don't even know how much longer she'll last. We have to reach out to her" Ensign Mason implored, the young man had been listening to the outside world for months and obviously grown attached to all the people he had listened to. Something about this girl must have struck a cord with the man as he would not have been so forward in his request.

"Sir, if I may breaking radio silence will broadcast our bearing out there to anyone listening" Mike reminded Tom.

Tom thought on it for a long moment before he made his decision. "Someone get Lassiter up here, Now" he ordered.

* * *

"You're looking skinny Red. You starving yourself?" Tex asked as he was lying on his back bench pressing weights while Kate stood at his head with her hands out spotting him. So he kept the weights light and decided on more reps as he wasn't keen on a heavy workout or the bar being too heavy for Kate to rescue him.

"No, I've been eating so stop mothering me and push the bar. Unless it's too heavy for you" Kate mocked him as her focus was on the long bar in his hand and his arms watching for fatigue and keeping an eye on his grip.

"The bar is light and what are you eating? ear wax? No one's seen you in the wardroom for meals. This morning was the first time I'd seen you there in three days and you drank tea" Tex said as he continued to pump the bar.

"I go to the wardroom after hours as Gym is usually empty during meal times. I like to exercise without an audience unlike you" Kate teased him, there were four other people in the room performing various fitness activities proving her point. But Tex had asked her to join him and felt it would be rude not to catch up with him. Anyway it wasn't like she had anything better to do.

"Lassiter" Burk called from the open door, Kate looked over shoulder.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Captain wants you in CIC now" Burk told her.

* * *

A couple minutes later, Burke opened the door to CIC and Kate stepped into the dimly lit room. The conversation in the room stopped and all eyes turned to her. She wondered what she could have done wrong to earn such a reception.

"What's up?" Kate asked Tom as she walked further into the room.

"I'm about to break radio silence. This is your one and only chance to get that data packet. Lt Foster will assist you" Tom told her, Kate frowned as she gave Tom everything he needed to access the information. He didn't need her at all but knowing better than to question him she moved to Lt Foster's station. The young woman was at her station waiting for Kate, hands on the key board in front of her primed to go.

"And we are broadcasting" a soldier said as Tom picked up the radio headset from the closest station to him and started to hail an unknown vessel. Kate turned her attention to Lt Foster who awaited her orders and told the woman what they were doing and repeated the signal code for the closest satellite that held the Data Packet. She only remembered it because it was a short sequence of numbers and letters.

Lt Foster made quick work of identifying the Satellite and tried to hail it. Kate mustered all the patience she had as the uplink was taking a long time to establish. Lt Foster informed her that the satellite was barely in range hence the slow connection. After several seconds passed by that felt like an hour they established a connection and the satellite asked for access codes to complete the link.

"Ma'am" Lt Foster prompted, she rolled her chair back and Kate leaned forward and typed in her identification code. She stepped back and watched the data packet instantly began to download. She looked over her shoulder to see where the others were at.

Rachel was standing to the side looking anxious as she watched the Captain talked with young woman named 'Bertrise' trying to get her GPS location. Mike looked at her and tapped his watch telling her she didn't have much time as the Captain was promising to pick up the woman.

"Ma'am, download is complete" Lt Foster said in a low voice so as not to disturb the action in the room.

"Ok, sever the connection" Kate said stating the obvious.

"It requires your access codes for that" Lt Foster told her.

"Apologies" Kate said as she had no idea as she didn't know what to expect. She typed in the code and the link between the Nathan James and the satellite severed. Lt Foster informed out loud that the connection to the Satellite was disconnected and few other navy slang words that Kate had no clue what they meant but Mike acknowledge them. Kate looked over to Tom.

"Hang tight, we're on our way" Tom said into the radio, he took off the head set and looked to Kate.

"Lassiter?" he asked.

"We got it and it's all yours" Kate told him.

"Ma'am" Lt Foster said prompting Kate to turn back to her screen. Kate turned around and looked at the screen as it was asking for an access code. She typed in three different codes until she got the right one only to be greeted with another screen asking for yet another code. Kate wondered annoyingly how tightly Evan had locked up the information as it felt a little extreme when she finished going through 4 more screens asking for pass codes before it said it was decompressing the information.

"And we're decompressing it now" Kate told him, Tom moved over to their screen and saw the bar on the screen, it ticked 5% and had no estimated time of completion.

"How long will it take to access the information?" Tom asked her.

"How long is a piece of string?" Kate asked him in a dry tone.

"You could just say you don't know" Tom told her in a bland tone. Kate gave a shrug as he was right but she figured he wouldn't appreciate her sarcasm if she had responded with 'it seemed like more fun this way'.

"Lt Foster" Tom asked seeing if the Lieutenant had an answer.

"I don't know sir" the young woman said, Tom turned to Kate.

"You stay here until it's finished and it all better be in English" he told her.

"Can't promise you that it will all be in English but it's all yours" Kate told him. She watched as he and Mike walked out of the room and then pulled up a chair and sat next to Lt Foster's station. _Oh please, there's no need to thank me Captain or acknowledge that I might have other things to do than sit on my ass watching a computer screen..._ Kate thought in an annoyed at the ungrateful reception or orders to stay.

* * *

A few hours later,

Kate was sitting in a chair with wheels moving from side to side bored out of her mind and possibly annoying every occupant in the room as she could not sit still. Not that any of them said anything but it was just a vibe, but then it wasn't like she had anything to do but sit on her behind and wait. An hour into their long wait Kate had taken a bathroom break and retrieved her iphone and USB connection cord from her bag. She turned it on assuming she would need it at some point as it held a lot of programs she needed for storing, encrypting and decrypting Lassiter Industries files.

It was probably the only iphone in existence that didn't have angry birds or any games for that matter to play with. but then Kate felt uncomfortable using a business phone for entertainment or social purposes.

"It's encrypted" Lt Foster told Kate, getting her attention. She looked at the screen as it asked for yet another pass code and for a program to be linked it. At least it was a screen she understood. She rolled her chair over closer to Foster's station and handed her iphone and connect cord to her.

"Here connect my iphone and enter in the following" Kate waited until Foster was ready and repeated her identification code out loud to Foster to save herself from typing it.

"Ok" Foster said once the code was entered. A screen popped open announcing yet another long wait for them before they could access the information. Kate wondered how much information Evan had compiled as it was taking an incredibly long time to open.

"How's it going over here?" Mike asked, Kate looked over her shoulder to find him towering over her.

"Alright, decompression is complete and it's decrypting the files" Kate informed him. Mike placed his hands on the back of her chair and leaned down so his lips were near her ear.

"Do you have to be in here watching it decompress?" Mike asked her in a low voice, Kate took a deep breath enjoying the clean scent of his skin before she leaned to the side slightly and turned her head to look at him.

"No" she informed him being completely honest as far as she was concerned she didn't even have to be on the ship but then she had given Tom everything of worth. She was now superfluous to their mission so if he was handing her a chance to stay. She'd stay especially given the offer Mike had given her.

"Good, I want you go up top and get the Helo on standby" Mike informed her, Kate could have kissed him for just allowing her to escape the CIC but refrained as she knew it would be inappropriate.

"Sure thing" Kate told him.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

* * *

An hour later,

"This does not feel right" Mike said to Lt Green as they watched the screens and listened to the comms as the two teams were searching the 'Octopus' for the lone survivor. He had a bad gut feeling that everything was going to go pear shape as they hadn't located Bertrise. If the girl even existed. It was a fishing boat not a cruise liner, how long did it take to find one girl?

He folded his arms impatiently as he stared at the screens. He knew the Helo would be in it's final stages of flight prep, he just hoped that he wouldn't have to send it up as the Helo would make it easier for the Russians to track down their location.

* * *

"You take the lead today" Kate told Grodin after she finished walking around the Helo checking the exterior. She sat into her cockpit seat and began to strap herself in.

"Seriously?" Grodin asked surprised she would give him the chance to fly. Kate nodded as Lang handed her a clipboard.

"Yeah, you bitch about wanting more hours. Here they are and our call sign for the day is 'Sabre Hawk'." Kate said dryly, as she read the clipboard. She had to refrain from rolling her eyes as the name made them sound like a reject transformer character. "but know this, if you disobey orders I will kill you without hesitation. We clear?" She asked as she handed him the clipboard for him to start preflight checklist.

"Crystal" he replied in a dry manner as he took the clipboard from her but judging by the smile on his lips he didn't take her seriously or he thought being 'Sabre Hawk' was 'cool' call signs. Kate didn't bother thinking too deeply on the subject as she pulled her helmet on and checked her comms and the panels in front of her triple checking they were all operating within normal parameters.

_"Tower, this is Sabre hawk one. We re finalising pre flight check list" _Grodin said_. _Kate rolled her eyes at the name as it really did make them sound like some reject 80's transformer character especially when Grodin said it with such glee.

* * *

Mike wished he could pace the room but held his place as the CIC is too small of a room to pace in and also because he knew such behaviour would make the crew uneasy. He was a leader and so he had to project a certain image to the crew at all times so they did not lose faith in his abilities or in the task at hand as most situations like this one; it always felt like he was stacking cards where if one card fell the whole house would fall with it.

_"Captain, we have company"_ Lt Burke's voice said over the comms and Mike's gut instinct proven right. Something he wished hadn't happened as he wanted to have one mission go smoothly. But sadly it wasn't going to happen that way and the hardest part of this mission was that the Nathan James was completely blind and had to rely on the two boarding parties to keep them updated. Mike looked Barker.

"From Where, What direction? You got something?" Mike asked him, anxious to know if they could offer any assistance to the Captain and the others.

"Negative Sir." Barker told him, Mike silently cursed as picked up the phone receiver and typed in the number for the flight deck tower. They needed eyes out there and the Helo was the only option they had that was readily available as he hadn't had any UVA drones prepped.

"Tower, CIC I want that bird in the air now" Mike ordered over the phone.

* * *

_"Sabre hawk One are you good to go?"_ Tower asked over the comm.

"Tower, ETA prep to go about 5 mikes. Just have to unhook the fuelling pump" Grodin responded as they were sitting in the cockpit waiting on standby. It looked like they were going to be given orders or so Kate sensed as they hadn't been prompted on how long prep would take in the past.

_"Copy that, Please be advised..."_ Tower continued, Kate looked to Grodin and then over her shoulder at Lang as they listened over comms as Tower informed them of the current situation they were going to fly into as soon as they finished re-fuelling. Their current orders were to fly out and locate the ship named 'Octopus' and retrieve the girl at all costs as the Russians were in hot pursuit of their teams. The two teams off the ship were secondary objective.

_"Good to go"_ Lang announced on the comm. as he had been watching the refuel and taking his cues from the flight deck crew. He was obviously given the thumbs up as flight deck crew moved off to the sides.

"Ok let's go" Kate told Grodin over the comm. The lieutenant smiled as he communicated with Tower and began to pull on the stick pulling the Helo off the deck of the Nathan James.

* * *

Mike listened to the radio chatter from the two teams off board. They had found the girl and were getting off the ship but the Russians were closing in. The sounds of gun fire came over the speakers and Mike felt the last of his patience snap. He moved to the phone receiver and called the Tower.

"Where's my bird? tell me she is in the air" Mike demanded on the phone as he looked at the screens in the CIC. He didn't know why he did as it wasn't like the screen had changed in the past hour. But a small part of hoped it would just so he could ground the Helo. It wasn't armed with weapons and with fuel for the Helo being finite he didn't want to waste it and have the Helo destroyed by the Russians.

_"Clearing the deck of the Nathan James and is enroute_" Tower responded.

* * *

A few minutes after taking off from the Nathan James and heading in the direction of the Octopus, Kate looked up from her panels to Grodin.

"You off course, you need to adjust" Kate told Grodin, she hated backseat piloting but she hated fuel wastage even more especially given they didn't have more than a day and half worth of fuel to burn.

"I'm on course" Grodin told her, the smile had disappeared when the Nathan James fed them sketchy intelligence on what was happening. They knew the Russians were engaged in action with the Nathan James crew but they had no clue where the Vyerni is or if their Helo was flying around. They had the advantage of being armed with rail guns something the Nathan James' Helo lacked. But it stressed Grodin out enough that the kid was looking everywhere but where he was going.

"Relax, there's nothing for miles" Kate told him, which was true all that was ahead of them was vast ocean.

"I'm relaxed" Grodin told her through gritted teeth.

"If you want to me to take over-" Kate started to offer but Grodin cut her off.

"No, I fine" he told her.

"Ok" Kate told him before she went back to paying attention to her job as co-pilot.

* * *

"The girl's boat is approximately here."Gator flashed a red laser pointer onto a large map with two dots on it. One green and the other red. He circled the red dot as he referenced it to be the Octopus. "Assuming the Russians were coming from Cuba where we left them, their ship should be somewhere in this region" Gater flashed the laser pointed in a large patch of ocean indicating where he believed the Vyerni was "And their attack boats were broadcasting from here."

Mike heard the door to CIC open and he turned around to see Tophet come into the room with two armed guards. Just as Mike ordered when they started picking up Russian radio chatter. It had been fifteen minutes since they lost communication with the two teams off the ship and the Helo was barely halfway to the ship to even give them anything useful.

"What am I doing here?" Tophet asked Mike.

"Your Russian pals are back." Mike said as he walked up to the man.  
"Are you sure? What have they said?" Tophet asked him.

"I don't know what they said. I don't speak Russian, that's why you're here." Mike said as he grabbed the man by the arm and dragged him over to the empty station next to Mason and sat the man down "You're gonna sit down next to Mason. just listen. If you pick up anything on the U.H.F., you translate." Mike picked up a headset and held it out to Tophet. The man took the headset and looked down at them as Mike moved to stand behind him as he spoke again.

"I'm damn sure Ruskov's out there listening to us. You'll tell me later what this is gonna cost me." Mike finished folding his arms and looking down at the man with unveiled disgust because as far as Mike was concerned the man was a traitor and a sell out.

"I'll do what you ask. " Tophet turned in his chair and looked up at him "When this is over, you make sure Ruskov dies." Tophet told him.

Mike didn't think that would be a hard task as he watched the man turned in his chair and listened to the radio chatter for a moment before he moved back to the large screen he and Lietenant Green had been looking at. As they needed to formulate a rescue plan and get everyone back to ship alive and in one piece.

* * *

Some time later,

"We are two-zero miles at last known point of contact_"_ Kate announced on the radio giving Grodin the mental space he needed to focus on flying the helo. He was doing alright in her opinion but he did need to lighten up. There was no sign of any Russians in the area and they had been receiving Russian radio chatter on their line but it seemed to be a bad connection as it cut in and out leaving just random words and annoying static.

The Nathan James was taking care of it as Kate switched them to a new comm channel just so she didn't have to translate everything for Grodin who had grumbled something about a missile attack. It made her wish they weren't in the Helo as she would have smacked him upside the head for being so melodramatic as he seemed to believe that they were somehow 'special' when really they were a waste of time to kill as they would more likely use the Helo to track down the Nathan James but she couldn't be bothered telling him so she kept her mouth shut.

_"We have contact with a vessel at 11 o'clock half mile bearing 050"_ Lang said over the comm, Kate leered her head to the right and just saw the white tail of water extending from a small black dot presumably the boat streaking across the water. They were a little too high for her to make out anything more than that but relief washed through her as it was good news.

_"Sabre Hawk One, this is Cobra two. How copy over?" _Burk's voice said over the waves.

"Solid Copy, Cobra Two" Kate replied as Grodin was focused entirely on flying and looking for the Russians. Just like with learning to drive, the more hours one had under their belt the easier it became for them to relax and be able to do more than drive or in this case fly in a certain direction.

_"We have the package enroute home base"_ Burk responded.

"Account for personnel Cobra two" Kate ordered over the comm. She hadn't seen the second boat but that didn't mean they weren't somewhere nearby.

_"Besides the package. Seven souls; Burk, Cruz, Cossetti, Jeter, Dennison, Rowler, Walker"_ Burk informed her. Her stomach twisted in unease as Tex's name wasn't mentioned.

"Do you have a derogative whisky for Cobra one?" she asked them. Quietly hoping they had an answer.

_"We do not know their whisky. Repeat we do not know their whisky. Be advised two Russian zodiacs in proximity to the Octopus"_ Burk told her. She blew out her breath as it wasn't good news. She could only imagine how Mike was taking the news but pushed away her concern and focussed on the task at hand.

"Solid Copy" Kate replied to Burk before she looked to Grodin, the man talked into the comm informing the ship of their course change and ETA to their destination as he manoeuvred the Helo in the direction of the Octopus.

* * *

3 minutes later they were flying over the Octopus, it was a decrepit looking fisher boat.

"…Nathan James we have negative beacon contact from this vessel" Kate informed the ship, knowing everyone in the CIC was listening. It was disheartening as there was nothing to follow. If only this were an episode of the Muppets because then there would have been a comical arrow pointing directions to Captain and Tex.

_"Nathan James this is cobra one"_ Tom's voice said over the comm. Kate's ears perked up as it meant he was alive and that Tex had to be too or so she hoped. "_Cease and desist all rescue operations. I say again cease and desist any rescue operations. That's a direct order. Ride off into the sunset with that package. It's been my sincere honour serving with you all. This will be my final transmission_" Tom said over the comm line. Kate frowned as she wondered why Tom had given that order instead of signalling for help. There was no Russians within visual range and given that they could see clearly in all directions for miles and there was nothing on the radar. It had to be safe.

_"Sabre Hawk standby for new orders"_ The person who was their comms tech for the day on the Nathan James said.

"Copy that" Grodin replied before he looked to Kate "Should we do a sweep?" he asked her.

"We're wasting fuel by just hovering here. So go ahead practise some manoeuvres, just keep your eyes sharp. The Russians would have heard that, so we can assume they'll start searching for the Captain" Kate told him.

* * *

"But you heard the Captain's orders Sir." Barker said to Mike as they stood in the corner of the CIC talking in low voices trying to suss out the best plan of attack given that Tom had told them to leave him behind. Something that did not sit well with Mike as they were told never to leave a comrade behind.

"What if it was a misdirect for the Russians, in case they were listening" Mike said, he knew Major Barker was a straight shooter and would play devil's advocate.

"I don't think so" Barker disputed. "Ride off into the sunset is what he said. We found the girl and now he wants us to move forward" he told Mike, the bad thing about the situation was if it wasn't Tom, their Captain; the leader who had been keeping the ship together and instilling hope the crew whenever the situation became dire. Then Mike wouldn't hesitate in sailing off into the sunset but they needed Tom, Mike was knew he could not hold the crew together with the same skill as Tom nor did he want to lose his best friend.

"We can't know that for sure" Mike said, he figured if he could come up with a valid argument to continue the search then they'd continue but if not then he'd follow Tom's last wishes.

"But you know him and you know he's right" Barker said,

"And I know he wouldn't leave any of us behind" Mike told Barker.

"Under normal circumstances; yes. But things are different now" Barker said, Mike took a moment not wanting to see reason. But before he could think of a comeback Lt Green piped up catching his attention.

"Commander, Lassiter is getting impatient for their orders" he said, Mike turned his attention to the comm. line listening as Kate reminded CIC that they were running on a limited supply of fuel.

"I'm not giving up on the Captain and Tex. Tell them to continue their search" Mike told Barker ending their discussion. _Screw common sense..._ he thought as he moved back to the screens. He could feel the disapproval roll of Barker but the man was not in charge. Mike was and he was not leaving Tom or Tex out to die in the ocean when there was a chance to save them.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

_Sabre Hawk One say fuel"_

"Currently at 40%" Kate said reading the panel. "Nathan James be advised we're also conducting IR sensor scans per sector" Kate added, she couldn't help feeling disheartened as every minute passed slowly and they found no sign of Tex or the Captain. She could only imagine how crew morale was like on the ship. She didn't want to think about Tom or Tex out in the ocean as it lead to her thinking of worst case scenario of finding them dead. Tom; she wouldn't grieve but then they weren't friends but Tex; he was the last person from her old life besides Mike that she had history with. Platonically speaking of course and she wasn't ready to lose him.

"This is waste of time and resources" Grodin said bored as flying circles was about as exciting as contemplating one's naval hair.

"If it was your ass in the water it would definitely be a waste of resources. Trust me, we'd be sailing off into the sunset without you" Kate told him in a matter of fact tone.

"I'm really feeling the love over here" Grodin replied sarcastically.

"I'd have a beer in your honour" Kate told him with a wry smile as she didn't want to think too deeply about what they were doing and what would happen if they failed to locate the Captain and Tex.

"You're such a bitch" Grodin told her before he chuckled.

"It's part of my charm" Kate quipped before she reported in that they finished yet another sector in their search with no results back to the ship.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

Mike still stood in CIC, staring at the large screen on the wall with a map of the current search around the Octopus for the Captain and Tex. So far they had found nothing and Russian chatter that was being blasted sporadically on radio was a misdirect. He also knew it was a race between the them on who'd find the Captain and Tex first. He hoped they got to the men first but the search was painfully slow going.

"_Negative contact_" Lang's voice said over the speakers.

_"Eagle Tower this is Sabre Hawk One. Dusk. Visibility dropping with the sun"_ Grodin said over comm. Mike looked at the clock on the wall noting that the Helo would have to return soon to refuel.

* * *

A few hours later,

Grodin landed the Helo in an ungraceful smack into the flight deck but in his defence he had probably miscalculated the the movement of the ship and wind speed as the ocean was slightly choppy. Frankly she wasn't going to comment as she needed to go to the bathroom and a drink of water. if she still smoked she would have added cigarette to the list but right now she happily live with the use of bathroom facilities and a drink. she'd let the flight deck crew chew him out for putting dents in the flight deck.

"Ok, I'm taking a bathroom break" Kate said as she unstrapped herself.

"But-" Grodin started to say but she cut him off.

"Dude, we're at bingo. Refuelling takes more than ten minutes. You did good, now babysit the bird and keep the engines warm. I'll be right back." Kate told him as she pulled off her helmet and then pulled herself out of her chair. She barely stepped off the helo when Lang shouted at her.

"Lassiter!" he yelled over the sound of the Helo engine and the whoop whoop noise of the rotor blades as they sliced through the air.

"Yeah?" Kate shouted back.

"Commander wants you in CIC. ASAP" Lang told her.

"Can it wait like 2 minutes?" Kate asked him.

"No" Lang said with a smile.

"Tell him I'm on my way" Kate said before she took off at a sprint.

* * *

"Lassiter what took you so long?" Burk asked her as he held the door open to the CIC. Kate was out of breath from running from the bathroom she stood at to answer nature's call to CIC. She couldn't imagine whatever she was going to walk into in the CIC would be time sensitive.

"I went for the scenic route. I still have 5 minutes before the Helo will be ready to go up again. Want to talk about my reasons or just cut to the chase as to why I'm here?" Kate asked as she caught her breath. Burk gestured his head motioning for her to go first. She walked into the CIC and Burk closed the door behind them. He went straight to Mike's side and spoke to him in a low voice. Kate looked around and spotted Tophet on a station with headset on listening intently to something. _Most probably the Russians..._ she thought before she turned her attention to Mike. Burk must have finished passing on his message as he stepped back and Mike turned his head in her direction.

"Lassiter, I want your opinion" Mike said, he motioned her over to where he stood which was in front of a large aerial map. "We think the Captain and Tex might be heading for the reef"

"And you want us to do a fly over" Kate said stating the obvious, she wished the CIC was a little bigger as she was feeling a little self conscious standing in her sweaty flight suit, knowing full well she didn't smell anything remotely like a rose garden.

"Yes but we've got a bad feeling the Russians are nearby" Mike told her.

"How high a probability?" Kate asked looking at the map.

"60%" Major Barker replied.

"the Russians are talking." Tophet said interrupting their small meeting "They're still searching the water." Tophet said as he listened and translated "He thinks the Americans have drowned." Tophet added. Kate reared back at the news.  
"He thinks? What exactly did he say?" Mike demanded.

"Shh, shh." Tophet said as he was trying to listen to what was being said.

"Do they have the bodies?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. The radio keeps cutting in and out. I missed some of the words." Tophet told them.

"Well, what words did you get?" Mike asked darkly.

"They said 'drowned'." Tophet said.

"I swear to God, if you're lying to me, I will strap you to a torpedo." Mike threatened him.

"It's what I heard." Tophet told him firmly.

"Sir, the Helo is refuelled" Lt Foster informed him. Mike turned his attention to the room and saw all eyes were on him and the next move he made would set the tone for his future leadership.

"We can't trust anything we hear. The Russians know we're listening. They could be deliberately feeding us bad intel." Mike told them, he needed them to have faith in him and he would not leave Captain and Tex to the Russians not whilst there was a chance to save them or worst case recover their remains.

"Sir, if you mean to do this, then I recommend we have a Helo fly low zigzag to make it harder for someone to track it." Major Barker suggested, Kate gave the man a dark look as he was correct but Kate hated the idea of using up all their fuel when they hadn't encountered any Russian patrol boats or Helos in the hours they had been up in the air.

"That'll burn a lot of fuel, sir." Burk said.

"No, it'll probably burn all of fuel we got" Kate corrected Burk.

"Yes, it will." Barker conceded. "But it means we've got enough time to make one short pass." he added.

"I concur. Head for that reef." Mike told Kate in a firm tone that brokered no arguments. She wanted to argue with him that it wasn't the right move but at the end of the day arguing with Mike would do nothing for either of them as he was in charge and she had to follow his rules.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

_"All stations report all instruments on altitude 100ft, on air speed 90 knots, negative contact" _Grodin relayed to the Nathan James knowing full well nearly everyone was crowding the CIC and any room with speakers to the Comm listening to the updates.

_"Roger, visibility nil" _Lang said as he looked out the side window in the dark.

"Wait, you see that?" Kate asked Grodin as she saw something flicker on the screen. She wondered if maybe she had hallucinated it as the screens seemed to be playing up a little with static and they had been flying for a long time.

"What?" Grodin asked her.

"Do a swing round to left and pass over sector" Kate rattled off the designation of screen quadrant where she had seen the anomaly. Grodin did as she asked and a few minutes when they passed over it again, Kate pointed to it.

"There" Kate said feeling a bubble of hope fill her chest as it was the first time they had picked up anything on their sensors besides marine life and birds.

"I see it, and moving in" he said as he manoeuvred the Helo closer to the possible sighting.

"_This is Sabre Hawk one we see something reflecting on the surface to the south west taking a closer look over. dropping down to 90 ft"_ Grodin informed the Nathan James and Lang.

_"Roger right side light shot_" Lang said coordinating with Grodin. "_In sight, engaging automatic approach standby to lower the harness_" he added.

"_Roger_" Grodin acknowledging her.

"hold her steady Grodin" Kate told him as the Helo was rocking slightly from side to side. She didn't need the harness whipping the Captain or Tex in the face if it was them down there. She leaned forward and squinted as she looked more closely at the screen at the image.

"It's not them" Kate said as the closer they got it the more definitive the image become. It was debris with a bloated corpse wearing a white t-shirt and dark clothing.

"What? How can you tell?" Grodin asked her.

"Neither of them were wearing white clothing and I think that's boat debris. Call it in, we got nothing" Kate told him as there was no way she was going to call it in.

_"Nathan James, no sign of survivors. I repeat, no survivors"_ Grodin announced to the Ship. Kate sat back in her chair and gave a heady exhale as it was going to be a long night.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

* * *

The Next Morning,

"Helo's crisscrossed hundred square miles of ocean and no sign of them" Mike said as he and Jeter walked onto the bridge after watching the Helo sail over them to the flight deck at the back of the ship from one of Bridge's lookouts. It had been a long and sadly unrewarding night for them all. They walked over to front window on his side of the bridge and looked out to the Horizon. They needed to get Tom back as the Nathan James and this mission was his, not Mike's and he knew he would only foul it up because he didn't have the same faith as Tom or Jeter did.

"I don't know what I'm hoping for whether they're still somewhere out there fighting for their lives or the Russians did get them." Jeter said as he like Mike was not ready to give up but there was a point where they would have to call it and continue the mission without the Captain.

Something Mike wasn't ready to do just yet. Besides Mike's qualms with taking over as Captain of the Nathan James, he didn't want to lose one of his oldest friends. So he was going to hold steadfast to the rule of 'no one gets left behind' until it jeopardised the Nathan James' ability to continue on. When they reached that stage then they would reassess the situation and make the final decision.

"Any sign of the Vyerni?" Mike asked Lt Granderson, hoping maybe the UAVs picked up something in their travels. The Lieutenant looked up from her station and shook her head.

"Sir, nothing on the SQL 32. Zero electronic emissions they're most likely radio silent" Granderson informed him.

"Maybe but they're close" Mike surmised, his gut told him that the Russians had to have picked up Tex and Captain before them as they had been searching for hours without even a clue of where they were.

"How do you know?" Jeter asked him.

"Because if they have the CO; they're going to call and try to make a trade. Tex and the CO for Dr Scott and her work" Mike said, it was a call he had been waiting for ever since this whole mess spiralled out of control. But then he knew the Russians would call if Tom was dead or alive just to try and trick them into a deal. It was inevitable and he was prepared to call their bluff.

* * *

"Rachel, how's it going?" Kate asked as she had just finished packing the Helo up for good. She dropped by the Lab in Helo bay 1 to see what was happening with the girl they had found and if they had at least some success. She needed some good news before she collapsed in a heap and call it a day. Though there was a shower and food before the collapsing part. She had already stripped off the top half of her flight suit and had it tied around her hips. Her tank top stuck to her body damp with sweat only reminding her how dire her need for a shower was.

"Well the Monkey is still alive which is a good sign" Rachel said dryly as she turned around on her stool in front of her computers to look to Kate. It was obvious that Rachel did not want to install a sense of hope about the vaccine prototype being built so quickly. Something Kate didn't blame her for not wanting to do.

"So the girl is immune to all of the strains?" Kate asked moving over to the plastic shell that kept the lab sealed up. She looked at the lone monkey in one of the cages. It looked healthy but it could be deceptive.

"Appears so yes" Rachel said watching Kate carefully.

"I saw Mason with the girl" Kate said turning to face Rachel, a smile on her face as remembered Mason's red cheeked face as he escorted the girl from the Jamaican fishing boat to the wardroom.

"Yes, Bertrise is having breakfast with Ensign Mason" Rachel said not so subtly informing Kate of Bertrise's name so Kate wouldn't call her 'the girl'.

"You have breakfast yet?" Kate asked her.

"Not yet, I still have work to do. So there is still no sign of the Captain or Tex?" Rachel asked her, Kate took a deep breath and shook her head. Rachel couldn't help but commiserate with Kate as she too felt the deep concern and fears for the Captain and Tex but Rachel also a sense of responsibility for what happened. She had practically demanded they go pick up Bertrise and now they were either captured by the Russians or dead.

"None and the Helo is running on fumes. So we're not making any more trips out. Hopefully the UAV's will find something to go on" Kate said she gave a sigh and rubbed her face with her hands as if to wipe away the fatigue but it only made her feel more exhausted.

"You should get some rest" Rachel told her.

"I will after I have a good scrub down and a hot meal" Kate said as she wished someone else would just do it all for her to save herself from exerting the energy. "Shower is definitely coming first. So want to join me later for breakfast?" Kate asked. Rachel shook her head.

"Thank you for the offer but I want to stay here" Rachel said, Kate gave a nod and walked over to the door but just as she reached the door she stopped and turned around.

"Hey do you have any results on my blood work yet?" Kate asked her. Rachel shook her head, immediately feeling guilty as she wanted to talk to Kate about her results but decided that it could wait because frankly the results Rachel had gotten only given her more questions than the answers she knew Kate wanted.

"Not yet" Rachel lied "But I would like anything you can give me from the Data packet" she informed Kate.

"I'll see what I can find and make sure it's sent your way." Kate told her and with that she turned and left the room.

* * *

"Sir, Admiral Ruskov is on the HF" Granderson informed Mike who had been perched in his chair just waiting. He immediately got up from his chair and moved over to where Lt Granderson was and took the radio receiver from the wall and clicked the side activating it.

"This is Commander Slattery" he said, he waited listening to static for a moment before Ruskov's voice drawled over the speakers in the bridge. It was the call he had been waiting and dreading simultaneously ever since the Helo landed. He had reports that the UAVs were still turning up nothing and Grodin had reported in to say the Helo was all packed up.

Mike would have preferred Kate to report to him but understood that she was wrecked not just physically but emotionally. He didn't understand the relationship between her and Tex, he knew Tex was her husband's friend and they both worked for the same company. That the two of them acted like friends but there was a gap between when he walked away and she came on the Nathan James that he knew nothing about.

_"Commander, I won't waste time obviously I want a trade two for two. I want Dr Rachel Scott and Mrs Kathryn Lassiter with them all relevant virus samples, work and Mrs Lassiter's electronic devices. Anything short of that will result in the death of your Captain and his companion."_ Ruskov told him, Mike frowned as he was surprised that Ruskov wanted Kate.

Though given the information that was in the Data packet they downloaded it was clear what Ruskov wanted Kate for. But how Ruskov knew Kate's first name and of course how he even knew Kate's access to whatever remained of Lassiter Industries irked him.

He paused for a long time, giving CIC time to track the call and also make Ruskov believe he truly had the upper hand but also because he wasn't entirely sure what to say.

_"Are you still there XO? Course you are, you just don't know what to say. I understand you've never been in command before"_ Ruskov drawled in a patronising manner. Mike waited a few more seconds drawing it out for CIC to track the comm. position before he spoke.

"I need proof of life. Let me talk to my commanding officer" Mike told him calling the Russians bluff. Now was the defining moment. If Ruskov produced proof of life then it would open a whole new bag of problems but it would also be a relief as it gave those on the Nathan James a chance to save Tom and Tex. The only downside was that part of that deal meant putting Kate in a potentially dangerous situation with no guarantees that Mike would get her or Tom back.

"_I'm here XO_" Tom's voice said over the speakers in a dark tone. Mike looked around and saw the relief on the crew members face change into exhaustion because the search was over but now the fight was real.

"You have 10 minutes to decide" Ruskov informed Mike.

"What guarantees can you give me?" Mike asked him.

"Just one that if you don't comply with my demands I will not only torture and kill your friends I annihilate your ship and every soul on board. I possess enough nuclear warheads to boil the seas in which you pathetically sail. Ten minutes" Ruskov said and then the line went dead. Mike looked around at the all the people watching him as they waited for his next move. Mike placed the radio receiver back into it's holder and picked up the phone receiver off the dash and dialled the number for CIC.

"Combat this is XO, tell me you got a bearing on that call" Mike demanded.

* * *

"Ma'am" Lt Foster said looking surprised as Kate walked into the CIC. In fact everyone in the room was busying themselves in such a manner that it looked like they were looking for an excuse not to look at her. _Paranoid much..._ Kate thought to herself as she really needed to remember that she wasn't important enough to centre of the universe and a good night's sleep would even out her ego. It made her wondered what she had missed between her shower and breakfast.

"Lieutenant, I'm here to look through the data packet" Kate said, the lieutenant nodded slowly as Kate pulled up a chair and sat by her station. Kate lifted the iphone that was still plugged into CIC systems. It seemed to had downloaded a copy of the information pulled from the data packet. It didn't really surprise her as it complied a list of the files for her to peruse.

"Everything ok?" Kate asked Foster as the woman looked at her with a mix of fear and pity.

"Sure, yes" Foster said a little too quickly.

"You have a lousy poker face" Kate told her with a smile as she knew better than to ask what was on the Lieutenant's mind. "There's quite a lot of crap in here" Kate said changing the topic as she referred to the information. about 80% of it was in another language. Kate could only imagine what Tom's displeasure would be at that news. That's if the man was alive.

"Yes, Ma'am" Foster replied in a non committal manner, the door to the CIC swung open and Mike walked into the room with Jeter, Burk and Green behind him all of them talking about something whatever it was they stopped when they saw her.

"Lassiter" Mike said in greeting.

"Commander" She replied in polite tone, The odd undercurrent that had been playing in the room earlier became more pronounced "Ok, what is it? Do I smell? because I showered and brushed my teeth. Also wearing fresh clothes, so why are you all being weird?" Kate asked.

"Your personal hygiene isn't nor ever has it been in question. The Russians have the Captain and Tex" Mike told her.

"Oh, ok" Kate said unsure as to why they all were acting weird.

"He wants to trade them for Dr Scott and her research and for you and your technology. I assume he meant your iphone and laptop" Mike informed her.

Kate looked away for a moment, trying to assess the situation, trying to figure out why her but then she remembered her phone had copy of the data packet's information and she had access codes that acted like a skeleton key to access any satellite that was still in orbit. Not too mention any research facilities and warehouses that might still be intact and operational.

"That's going to be problematic" Kate told him in a slow and careful manner, she didn't know why but she felt herself getting angry at how unfair the situation was and the fact that they all acted like it was completely fine to leave her out of the loop. Worse yet expect her to just trade herself over to their enemy without even asking her. It was truly the little considerations that pissed her off.

"Handing me over will be the easy part. You don't need me on the ship but you do require my tech and access codes to allow you to utilise the information Evan has provided you. Access codes; I write down but what's on this phone and my laptop can't be replicated" Kate told Mike.

She technically half lied as she wasn't a computer genius. She had no idea if it could be replicated but knowing Evan and how he'd turned her world into a freaking spy novel told her it would be difficult and not worth was already resigned to the fact that she would be traded for Tom. The ship needed its Captain more than it needed her. She tried to not take it personally as Mike was thinking for the ship and its crew but it hurt as no one was arguing about her safety or that they should consider an alternative plan where she didn't become a prisoner.

"None of this is going to easy" Mike told her in a firm tone. Kate's eyes snapped up at meet his as she expected him to play the pragmatic soldier but she could see he was angry, conflicted and in as much pain as she was. It was a small comfort but yet for some reason not enough.

"Well what choice do we have? You all need Captain and Tex more than you need a helo pilot" Kate said with a shrug, Mike narrowed his eyes at her as he really wanted to contradict her but knew she was just putting up a façade. She locked eyes with him for just a moment he saw the pain in her eyes before she casually picked up her phone and started scrolling the screen. She needed it to be a distraction so she wouldn't do anything stupid.

"How much time do you have before you agree to their terms?" she asked.

"7 minutes" Mike told her.

"Sir, couldn't we negotiate Lassiter for Tex? and then-" Green started but Mike cut him off.

"Then what? put a tracker on Lassiter get a bearing on the Vyerni and attempt a rescue? Ruskov would expect that and retaliate" Mike told him.

"Anyway Ruskov needs Dr Scott more than he needs Lassiter" Burk added.

"Gee thanks for making me feel like chopped liver" Kate said sarcastically.

"No offence Ma'am but why would the Russians care about you? You have nothing of value to offer" Lt Green said, Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself as she was about half a second away from kicking the man in the groin. Instead of kicking Lt Green, she pushed Lt Foster away from her computer and quickly sifted through the information and within a few seconds had taken over the large CIC screen and three smaller ones.

The largest screen was a map of the world, it was covered in several green and red dots scattered across many locations across the continents and some off the coastline and a couple of green dots in the middle of the ocean. On the two smaller screens were the Vyerni's ship schematics.

"That is what I have to offer." Kate gestured to the screens before referring to the larger screen she had hijacked "Green dots are facilities that are still fully functioning, Red not functioning. These are labs, factories, supply stations. You'll also note on the other two screens behind you that those are the schematics for the Vyerni. This is just a small taste of the many things that Ruskov wants from me. Oh and the fun fact about it all" Kate said, she pulled the USB connection cord from the CIC station disconnecting the iphone. The screens blacked out for a second and returned to their previous programs. "You need my tech, you need the access codes I possess to get a full access pass. So please waste some more time arguing over who is more important than the other. I'll just sit here and wait until you tell me to pack my bags" Kate said before she retook her seat. She kept her head down not wanting to talk or make eye contact with anyone. No wonder she got all the odd looks, she was a dead woman walking to them.

She reconnected the phone and brought up the Vyerni's ship schematics and made sure they displayed on the station closest to Mike because she knew he would ask but she didn't want him to. The arguments continued but she blocked them out fuming as she scrolled through the files on her phone to distract herself more than anything. She knew any further input on her behalf would be a waste of time as she had no experience or knowledge on how to infiltrate a ship let alone know it's weak spots.

She selected multiple files for Rachel wondering why she was bothering but then she knew. If there was a rescue mission she'd be low on the priority list to be rescued but Rachel would need all the information she could get as she'd be first on the escape boat. It just burned that Kate that she was always on her own as no one made noise about rescuing her or arguing for her to stay.

"Sir, we could break 'em out, soft-kill the engines, and haul ass to the extract point at the back of the Vyerni." Lt Green said Mike looked at Kate his arms folded as he didn't want to give her over to Ruskov but what other choice did they have? The cold harsh reality was they needed Tom and Dr Scott more than needed her and Tex. Didn't stop from it burning him, the anger that he was just repeating history with Kate. How was she supposed to believe anything he said when he was contradicting himself.

"That ship's twice our size" Mike stated, he didn't want to know how Evan Lassiter got his hands on the information but was glad for it. Even if he didn't want to get his hopes up on the slightest chance that they could rescue everyone and immobilise the Vyerni. "If the alarms sound while you're going door-to-door looking for the C.O. , it's gonna be four of you against 300 angry Russians." Mike told Green.

"It's doable, sir." Green said adamantly. Kate made a derisive noise from where she was sitting and Mike didn't blame her as Lt Green was very confident for a man who nearly died from Dengue fever.

"Who's team leader? You?" Mike asked in disbelief.

"I wouldn't volunteer unless I were fit, sir." Green told him adamantly.  
"Even at 80%, he's good to go, sir." Burk said backing Green up. Mike opened his mouth to argue when the door to the CIC opened and Rachel raced in. He lifted his hand and pointed at Rachel to silence her as he did not have the time.

"Honestly, Doctor, now is not the time. The Russians are calling back in less than five." Mike told Rachel.

"I have the vaccine!" Rachel declared between heavy breaths. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing even Kate looked up from her phone and looked to Rachel "The monkey survived. The last damn monkey." Rachel said a cynical smile on her lips. Mike moved to her slowly as he processed the information Rachel was giving him.

"Are you saying you have the vaccine? A vaccine that works?" Mike asked her in a careful tone because he didn't want Rachel to get his or the crew's hopes up with grandiose statements only to retract them later. She was looking a little too wild for him not to question her success.

"Well, in an ideal world, I'd do more testing, but Yes." Rachel said her face glowing from the success, her breathing was still scattered as she could barely stand still to allow the moment to sink in "Which means Ruskov doesn't need me anymore. You can send him a dose in exchange for Tex and the Captain." she added.

"Ruskov won't just take your word for it. He'll want to make sure." Foster said, looks were exchanged around the room as it was true. Mike could just feel the anger silently roll off of Kate who remained in her chair looking at her damn phone. He knew it wasn't easy for her to listen to the crew argue for Rachel to stay and he didn't blame her for feeling angry and resentful.

"Well then I'll show him myself. I'm no longer essential on this ship. From here on in, it's merely a case of mass-producing the vaccine from my original formula." Rachel argued.

"But, Doctor-" Burk started except Rachel cut him off before he could argue with her.

"I can show Doc Rios everything he needs to know. And if extra help is required, I'm sure you can strike a bargain with Quincy." Rachel argued, she was desperate to help save the Captain and Tex. Mike understood how she felt as it was a feeling they all shared.

"I can't let you go." Mike said in a firm tone. He wasn't ready to take her word on having a workable vaccine. There were too many unknowns and he wasn't ready to hand Rachel over until the vaccine proved to a success otherwise handing her over to Ruskov would destroy their mission. He also knew without a viable rescue plan his decision could ultimately lose everything the crew had been working hard for, what they had sacrificed for. It wasn't fair.

"Ruskov asked for me and I won't do a thing for him until he releases Tex and the Captain." Rachel told them.

"Ma'am, you don't realize what you're signing up for. You would be Ruskov's slave for life, or until he decides to kill you." Lt Green told Rachel.

Kate looked down at the iphone screen, tears biting the back of her eyes as a mixture of jealousy and disappointment filled her. Not one person had argued for her to be kept on the ship. Except Mike but he hadn't openly argued with her that she would stay. No, he just said it wouldn't be easy letting her go.

It was then she caught her name in the long list of information. She tapped the screen and the file opened, she had to enlarge the image but after a few seconds of scanning it she realised it was her medical file. But it was far more comprehensive than she thought as she slowly read it her eyes went wide.

"Look, we all know he'll chase us to the ends of the Earth. This is the only way to stop him once and for all" Rachel told the room in a grave tone, stating the obvious to them that she like everyone else was expendable.

She didn't understand most of it but she did understand that the series of flu vaccinations, medical physicals and blood tests she had received over the course of 3 years Lassiter Industries family medical care coverage were not vaccinations nor were the booster shots she had been given six months ago. Bile rose in her throat as she felt disgust at secrecy, the betrayal of Evan's duplicity. She was supposed to be family to him and he had made her into some scientist's human test subject for some kind of gene therapy.

"That fucki-" Kate stopped as she realised she had started to swear out loud. Those in the room were staring at her oddly and she wondered what she had missed but then didn't care as her anger reared up. "I'm sorry for interrupting. Please continue" Kate said in an annoyed tone not knowing who she had interrupted but not caring either way.

"Read something you don't like?" Mike asked her, he genuinely looked concerned but she couldn't tell him what it was nor could she take her phone and corner Rachel and ask her about because what was the point?

In a few hours she'd be on the Vyerni and that would be the end of her story because she wouldn't give Ruskov what he wanted and since he had a bad habit of shooting people who displeased him. She would be dead. The whole speech Mike had given her about a fresh start, being friends and building it into something more had been wasted. Sadness washed over her dulling her anger as she had really wanted to say 'yes' and see where their relationship went. She wanted to happy or somewhere close to it and now that chance was plucked away.

"Yeah but don't worry about." She closed the file and tossed the iphone on table beside her. "I'm out of here" she said as she rose from her chair and moved to the door. She needed to get out of the room and away from Mike as it was too painful to be in the same room with him and know that they would never be together.

"We haven't made any decisions" Mike said to her, Kate stopped at the door and turned around to face him.

"You got 2 minutes, we all know you have to agree to exchange. So now it's really up to Captain America and his sidekick Falcon here" Kate gestured to Green and Burk "to figure out a way to rescue the Captain and Dr Scott from the Vyerni later on because let's face it; the Russians are screw us all" Kate said and with that she left the room before anyone could contradict her.


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and waiting patiently... please continue to enjoy:-)_

* * *

**Chapter 25**

* * *

Mike hung the headset back onto the hook where it lived and looked to those in the CIC. He had just agreed to meet Ruskov's demands and it made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I shall go brief Doctor Rios about the vaccine and get ready" Rachel said breaking the silence in the room. Mike nodded and watched as Rachel left the room. The woman was ill-equipped to realise what she was signing up for but Mike had agreed to the trade. So now they would all have to see it through to the end and hope they were the victors.

He took a moment and then looked to Burk and Green who were waiting for orders.

"Green, Burk " he said addressing them directly "You think you can take on 300 angry Russians? Well you have the schematics, make a plan. You have half an hour" Mike told them before he stalked out of the CIC.

* * *

"Hey, heard you were leaving us" Grodin said as he found Kate sitting in the Helo cockpit. She should have just hidden in her quarters until time because she really didn't want to talk with Grodin about anything.

"News travels pretty fast on this ship." Kate said as she had wanted to be alone and since the Helo was out of commission she figured the place would only be used for drills which weren't for a few hours. So she had just been wasting time with her own thoughts when Grodin decided to track her down.

"It's all the excitement" Grodin said moving into his seat, Kate made a face as she really wished he'd just read her body language and piss off so she wouldn't have to tell him to do so vocally.

"I'm so glad everyone's excited for me to be leaving" Kate said dryly.

"Well, at least the maple syrup will last a little longer with you gone" Grodin remarked idly. Kate wondered if he was trying to be funny because his comment seemed rather cruel given the circumstances.

"Maybe you should go hide all the maple syrup. I still have time left to drink what maple syrup we have just to spite you" Kate told him somewhat petulant because she was not feeling the 'love' from any direction on the ship. Except for Mike but that had it's own awkward limitations and rules.

"That would be childish and you'll make yourself sick" Grodin said.

"But I'd do it and frankly I was hoping you'd be stupid enough to go toddle off and save your precious Maple Syrup stores so I could be left alone to my thoughts" Kate replied dryly.

"Why would you want to be alone?" Grodin asked her. Kate turned her head and looked at him confused.

"Are you angling for sex?" Kate asked him. Grodin's eyes went wide in shock which was somewhat amusing to Kate as he sat up straighter in his chair and shook his head.

"What? No!" Grodin exclaimed as he looked embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable by her accusation.

"That's a relief, because I'm not interested in spending my remaining time on this ship with you. So do me a favour and go away" Kate told him.

* * *

40 minutes later,

Mike had only sat down at his desk after finishing up a meeting with Green and Cossetti when a knock sounded at the door. "Come in" he said loud enough for whoever was on the other side. He had expected Jeter to come in as it was getting close to when they would have to send Kate and Rachel off to the rendezvous point to picked up by the Russians. The door opened and Mike looked over his shoulder to the door surprised as Kate stood in the doorway.

"Lassiter" he said in greeting.

"you asked to see me?" Kate asked him.

"Jeter find you?" He asked as he asked the man to inform Kate but he didn't remember asking to see Kate. Then again he wasn't going to complain at her being here. Instead, he pretended he did give the order and waved her in, she stepped into the room and then closed the door behind her.

"So how long do I have?" She asked as she walked over to the guest chair by his desk and sat down. No, more like slouched in the chair. Even though her tone had a mocking lilt he couldn't help but wondered what had upset her in the CIC.

"Excuse me?" He asked her as he didn't appreciate her phrasing as it sounded like she was casually asking how long it would be before her execution.

"How long until I leave?" Kate said restating the question in a casual tone that really rankled him even further.

"20 minutes, you and Dr Scott will be taken to a rendezvous point via a RIB and the Russians will pick up in their helo and take you back to the Vyerni. There's a plan-" he started explain when Kate cut him off.

"Don't tell me" Kate said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"You need to know it" he told her firmly as he felt his annoyance at her nonchalant manner start to grow. He'd rather she be pissed off and yelling at him, then maybe he could let off some steam by yelling back at her because this mockery of indifference only added fuel to an already tense situation.

"Why? I'm like what… Sixth on the list of mission objectives?" She argued, it then struck him that part of her resignation was that she fully expected them to leave her behind.

"First priority is that no one is left behind including you" Mike told her, he was half tempted to call her ungrateful but then he knew she wasn't being petulant. She was being pragmatic, it was how she remained calm under pressure but he hated it as he just wanted her to be irrational when they were alone.

It wasn't that he enjoyed seeing her weakness or fragility but the fact that if she showed it to him then it was a sign of her trust in him. That he could and would looked after her and give her what she needed. Even if it was incredibly complicated.

"Ruskov is going to realise that I don't have my laptop or iphone with me and when he does. He's going to be ticked off and I don't see it ending well. Just in case it doesn't it's best I don't know anything that could harm your rescue mission" Kate told him in plain tone, underneath her calm façade she was mess. She just wanted to cry at how unfair everything was and punch Mike in the face for giving her hope for a future they were never going to have. Though in fairness she'd have to punch herself as well for allowing herself to think she could be with him and ignore all the painfully obvious facts of their current situation.

"You'll only have to stall" Mike told her. Kate snapped out of her reverie at Mike's words.

"Stall how?!" Kate asked him incredulously. "This Ruskov guy sounds rather switched on and to be honest I barely remember E&amp;E training" She scoffed as she wasn't sure how she was going to stall the Russians for a few hours until Tex and the Captain were rescued. "Which come to think about. I think I was sick the day they told us how to proceed when US Navy trades you like a Goat to the Russians for their Captain" Kate said scathingly.

"It's not like that" Mike told her in low tone.

"I get it, Ruskov wants me and this mission and ship needs Captain Chandler. It's just business" Kate said apathetically.

"It-" Mike was about to remind her of a creed that no soldier is left behind when Kate spoke over him.

"I know, it's not that simple and I'd want to save my best friend too" Kate stopped talking and looked away, he waited for the 'but' and her to tell him that he was one bad command decision from destroying the main mission which was the vaccine and saving the world.

All the things Tom spouted about, if he followed Tom's orders then the Nathan James would be sailing off to the closest functioning lab facility to test and produce the vaccine. They'd be going home in an essence but Mike had stalled it and focussed on getting Tom and Tex back. He was already paying the price for it considering he was giving up Dr Scott and Kate to the Russians. Dr Scott was needed for the mission but Kate, she was altogether a personal price Mike was paying. But she said nothing, seemingly at a loss of words as she remained quiet.

"What upset you in the CIC?" Mike asked changing the subject before Kate could have the chance to berate him or maybe she remembered him well enough to know that he already thought the ins and outs of the situation and couldn't be bothered talking to him about since he had the conversation with himself already.

"What?" Kate asked blankly.

"You were reading something on your phone before you lost your cool and acted like a teenager. So what was it?" He asked her, as he was genuinely curious to what had made her go from being rather calm and collected to dejected and hostile in the snap of a finger. Her expression became troubled as she seemed to think about her response; weighing her options before she shook her head.

"It doesn't matter" she told in a dismissive tone. Mike turned his chair slightly, sat forward and looked at her head on.

"Matters to me because you went from wanting to fight to giving up like that" He said as snapped his fingers for emphasise how quickly her attitude had changed. "I've got a vested interest in you and it requires you not to do something stupid like get killed by the Russians. So what is it?" he asked her.

"I'm not suicidal and it's none of your business" Kate told him in a biting tone. She didn't want die but frankly she knew the odds were stacked high against her. Not to mention she wasn't sure how to explain what Evan told her and what her medical files. But what made her livid was knowing that he signed off on her being a test bunny in his company's scientific studies. That Jack her husband had to have known as well and said nothing to her, in fact pushed her to go have her medical check ups and flu shots.

"I beg differ. I care about you and if there is something that affects you then it affects me. Now talk" he ordered her, Kate rose an eyebrow at him as she couldn't help a wry smile play on her lips. Mike was giving her an order to talk to him, it was absurd, touching and a little amusing.

"Wow, your people skills could use some work" She remarked dryly, Mike made a face of displeasure as she dodged answering the question.

"If I tried to talk to you like a normal person you'd mock me for trying to use my 'cop' skills on you." Mike replied in a mocking tone feelign his mood grow darker by the second.

"True" she agreed but she'd only do so to get a reaction from him. She couldn't help that she enjoyed baiting him. It was the reaction she looked forward to as it was nice to know she wasn't the only one affected by their attraction. right now she had to soak it up as it would be the last chance she'd get to goad him.

"And I'm going to find out eventually. So why don't you just tell me now" Mike said to her, Kate gave a sigh and shook her head.

"There isn't enough time and what's the point? I'm leaving for the Vyerni. So why would any of it matter now?" Kate asked stonewalling him, her whole body language screamed at him to leave it alone but he couldn't because he couldn't let her go to the Vyerni in her current mental state.

Kate-" Mike started but she cut him off.

"Seriously, you're trading me to the Russians for the Captain which by the way contradicts what you said to me the other day. So your interest can't be all that 'vested' as I'm going to be hanging out with the Russians while you and the Nathan James save the world" Kate told him as she referred to his offer of them being together. He took a deep breath before he spoke vainly trying to rein his anger in as he really wanted to shake some sense into her.

"No, it doesn't contradict my offer because you're not staying on Vyerni. We have a plan, I'll admit it's not a great one but it'll give you a chance to come back" he told her while silently adding in '_to me_' onto the end of the sentence. His patience was barely present for her scathing attitude.

"Be honest with me. Do you want me to come back? Cause this would get you off the hook" Kate said her tone was pragmatic and somewhat casual but there was an undertone of malice. Mike felt his control snapped as he was over her second guessing him and acting dejected and resigned to die on the Vyerni. So he grabbed her by the upper arm and with ease hauled her out of her slouched position to her feet and then moved her into his chair at the desk.

He pushed the chair in trapping her and then unrolled the sheets of Vyerni's schematics across his desk in front of her. He weighed down the ends with his coffee mug and his iphone before he placed both of his hands on Kate's shoulders and held her down.

"Hey!" she protested as she tried to get up but he had the advantage and held her in place. He gripped her just were her neck meet her shoulder with his left hand, holding her there. Kate's heart zipped from adrenalin as she hadn't expected him to manhandle her. She figured he'd just shut down and let her go off to the Vyerni with some empty goodbye.

"0400, the ladder room on the port side. I brought a copy of the schematics so you know where to go" he said as he leaned over her, he kept one hand on the curve of skin and tendons where her shoulder met her neck and with his other hand tapped the first location on the page.

"That is the ladder room" he informed her as he tapped the written red 'x' marked on the map indicating the location. "I don't know where you'll be taken but you'll need to get here. There will be a RIB waiting to EXFIL you and everyone out at 0400 hours. I'm telling you this because I want you on that damn RIB, got it?" he asked her. He looked down at her and saw she wasn't looking at the map. He was half tempted to grab her by the back of her neck and force her face forward to look but knew it was too aggressive even for him.

"Kate" he said, she looked to him. "I need you to know this, if I didn't care I'd have thrown you overboard 6 weeks ago or maybe earlier because you really know how to try my patience" he told her, that some odd reason got to her give him a faint smile. "So could you just focus and learn the schematics since I'd really like you to give me answer about if you'll come with me after my duty is finished on the ship"

"I could give it to you now" Kate said tartly and he knew she wouldn't be honest with him.

"No, you look someone resigned to the fact they are about go to their death and I think it has something to do with that stupid data packet. What did you read in that? Did it say you were dying?" he asked her.

"What?" Kate asked in confusion, Mike released her shoulder and turned to lean against the desk as she pushed back the chair and looked up at him with an expression like he was speaking another language.

"Are you dying? Is this why you're acting like you're not coming back?" he asked her.

"Not that I know of" Kate said feeling her answer was somewhat cryptic obviously it was as Mike's next question confirmed it.

"What do you mean by that?" he pushed as he wanted to know the truth. Kate pushed up from the chair and got to her feet and moved in close to him, she raised her chin in a defiant manner. It was sexy as hell to him when she did that as the confidence she exuded was beautiful.

"You know part of starting a 'fresh' and being 'friends' is learning to respect each other's privacy and earning one another's trust to open up on our deeply personal issues" Kate told him snidely. Mike stopped from saying his knee jerk response as he realised she had inadvertently given him the answer.

"So that's a yes to my offer" he asked for clarification as he felt a little smug that he had gotten under her skin just as much as she seemed to be under him.

"Yes" Kate bit out but she didn't look happy about it. It didn't impinge on Mike's mood as he gave a closed lip smile as she confirmed her answer made him happy. Something he hadn't felt for a while.

"Good because that means you'll not get yourself killed on the Vyerni cause you'll be breaking your promise to me" he told her smugly.

"Whoa, I didn't make a promise" Kate said rearing her head back and raising her hands in mock surrender. "You wanted to be friends with something to build on" Kate added in a mocking tone throwing his words back at her but he didn't care.

"You have to be here to build on 'it' with me. That's a promise of sorts." Mike told her.

"I'll do my best" Kate told him dryly.

"That's all I ask" he said being facetious. "Now I realise we're going to have to keep your phone here. So you'll use this one " He stood up releasing the chair and turned to the desk picking up his iphone. He then turned to Kate and held it in front of her "as a decoy. You'll have to make an excuse about the laptop as we can't part with any of ours" Mike told her.

"Fair enough" Kate said dryly as she took it and turned the iphone on. She saw the screensaver of his kids being cheeky. "You sure about me taking your personal phone?"she asked him surprised that he'd let go of something so precious.

"You'll bring it back" Mike said with confidence that Kate didn't feel.

"I'm not guaranteeing that. You should at least password protect it" Kate told him holding the phone out to him.

"You do it" Mike told her.

"No, it's better that I don't know the password. Have you backed up all this information?" She asked him as she gave him the phone.

"Yes" he said as he password protected the phone and handed it back to her.

"Good" She said as she put the phone into the inside pocket of her jacket.

"Now promise me you'll come back" he told her. He didn't know why but he needed her to promise him like it would guarantee her return.

"I don't make promises" she told him as she started for the door but he caught her by the arm and pulled her back to face him.

"Promise me" he ordered her, but instead of answering him. She grabbed him by the jacket and used it to pull his face closer to hers. He could have kept his ground but he wanted to see what she would do. So he closed the gap left between them, enjoying for the first time in months the pull of attraction between them.

"No, but considering we're alone for what could be the last time. We could have one last shag before I go. We got what? Twenty minutes before I leave?" Kate askedd in a flirtatious manner before she gently pressed her lips against his.

A rush of desire hit Mike low in the gut and it took every ounce of control to keep from giving in to his need and pulling her hard into his arms, kissing her savagely, and running his hands along the curves of her body. Instead, he made himself slow down and let Kate take the lead. Gently, so gently, she ran her tongue across his lips, slowly gaining passage to his mouth. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to move still more slowly, even slower now.

She tasted of maple syrup and tea an odd yet enticing combination of flavours. He caressed her tongue with his own and when she responded, when she opened her mouth to him, granting him access and deepening their kiss, he felt dizzy with pleasure.

This was, absolutely, the sweetest kiss he'd shared with her. Slowly, still slowly, he explored the warmth of her mouth, the softness of her lips. He touched only her mouth with his, and the side of her face with the tips of his fingers. She wasn't locked in his arms, their bodies weren't pressed tightly together. Still, with this gentle, purest of kisses, she had the power to make his blood surge through his veins, to make his heart pound in a wild, frantic rhythm. He wanted her desperately.

And then his part of his mind decided to remind him of the current situation, that Kate would soon ramp up the kiss and he knew where it would lead. So with great reluctance he pulled back from kiss just enough to break it.

"I'm not having sex with you just because you think you might not come back" he said against her lips.

"Could be our last chance for a quickie" Kate replied as she brushed her lips against his in a faint kiss.

"you're unbelievable" he told her wanting to laugh but also wanting to give in.

"I'm glad you remember. So how about it?" she asked as she slid her hands down the front of his chest and then back up in a slow and tantalising manner. He caught her hands in his and shook his head as he moved away from her.

"No, because if you want all of this" He stepped back out of her reach and gestured to his body " then you'll just have to get your ass to the ladder room, port side 0400" he told her. Kate threw him a look of disbelief and pure frustration.

"You're going to be such a tease now that I said 'yes' aren't you? " Kate asked him in a matter of fact tone which made Mike smile as he liked the power and the fact she said 'yes'. It made him very happy indeed even if other parts of him weren't in absolute agreement on remaining chaste.

"I prefer to think of it as motivation" Mike told her. Kate chuckled as she shook her head at him and threw her hands up in surrender and took a step back from him to put some much needed space between them to cool down.

"Well, then I'm going to go take my last shower and change into some ugly clothing" Kate told him, he moved past her to open the door when she pinched his ass.

"Hey" he complained shocked that she pinch him. She gave him a look of mock innocence.

"What? my hand slipped" Kate told him in an innocent tone.

"This is not what friends do with one another" he informed her.

"So you and Tom never had a little session of grab ass in the stateroom or showers" Kate asked in a mockingly innocent tone.

"No, it never came up" Mike told her sarcastically, Kate threw him a look that said she was taking his comment to a dirty conclusion and so he pointed at her before she could speak. "Don't finish that thought or say a word" he warned her, she mimicked the gesture of zipping her lips but she wore an amused smile before she pulled the door and left the room.

* * *

20 minutes later,

Kate spent her last twenty minutes on the Nathan James jamming Mike's iphone case with a small duct taped package filled with scrap pieces of metal and worn out washers and nuts. She managed to snap the case closed and then turned to Mike's iphone. She pulled out a blank page of white paper and wrapped the iphone up in it and then wrote his name on it. She couldn't pretend the iphone was hers or take it away from Mike as it was the only photo source he had of his kids besides what was in his quarters.

She heard the interior door to the Helo bay open and looked over her shoulder to see Mike step into the room. Her cheeks heated up slightly as she remembered their brief kiss and then a smile played across her lips as she remembered his scandalised look when she pinched him. She had to admit her only mistake was going slow. If she had kissed him harder and faster then maybe she'd be climbing out of his bed right now instead of fantasising about it.

"It's time?" She asked him as she placed his phone into the top drawer under the bench and shut it before giving him her full attention.

"Yeah" he said as he watched her stand up from her stool and picked up the iphone tucking it into her back pocket of her skinny jeans. She pushed the stool under the bench and started walking towards him. "You ready for this?" he asked her.

"No, who would be?" she asked him with a wry smile.

"It's going to work" he assured her, though he was sure he was reassuring himself more than he was her. The last twenty minutes had been the hardest as Ruskov called to double check that Mike wasn't incompetent at his job and remembered to send the women to him. It made Mike wish he could reach down the radio receiver and snap the man's neck. Now looking at Kate, he couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be the last time.

He was silently grateful they were alone as he wanted to kiss her one last time for luck or at least he told himself it was for luck but just as he had been about to make his move the door behind them opened. Mike folded his arms as if it was what he had meant to do all along and looked over his shoulder to the crewman.

"Sir, the RIB is ready to be deployed" he announced.

"Thank you crewman" Mike said in a Dismissive tone, the man took the hint and left. Mike looked back to Kate.

"I should go, I'll see you at breakfast" Kate told him awkwardly as she scratched the side of her neck, trying to act cool even though she was really wanted to beg to stay. But she wasn't one to beg and she owed Tex.

"That's it?" Mike asked her as he expected her to say something a little less casual.

"Are we having pancakes tomorrow?" she asked him, exasperating him on purpose as he expected her to kiss him or at least have a poignant moment. But no, she asked about breakfast. Mike caught her by the hand and pulled her into his arms. "Hello, this is a bit overly friendly" she commented mockingly, a smile on her lips.

"Don't read too much into this. It's for luck" He told her as he lowered his lips to hers, he was about to kiss her passionately but Kate pulled her head back slightly.

"You give everyone this token of luck?" Kate asked him with an amused smile on her face, he gave her an incredulous look as he was trying to have a moment and she was being irreverent with him.

"No, you're just special" Mike told her.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

* * *

A couple of hours later,

"What's that?" Kate asked Rachel as the woman had been holding a small piece of paper between her fingers for the last hour; looking at it with trepidation. They were in the RIB waiting seemingly in the middle of nowhere for the Russians to pick them up in their helo.

"It's message for Tex and the Captain. Commander Slattery gave it to me to pass to them. I'm surprised he didn't ask you to do it" Rachel said as she held it out to Kate. She took it from Rachel and unfolded the paper and was careful of the blade. She read the message and looking at the blade for a moment before wrapping it up.

"Somehow this Ruskov guy knows my full name which means he probably knows I'm ex-military and thus he'll expect me to do something stupid like this. You on the other hand way too innocent to do sneaky underhanded stuff" Kate told her as she handed the blade folded up in a piece of paper back to Rachel.

"How am I supposed to get this to them?" Rachel asked her flabbergasted.

"Commander didn't explain it to you?" Kate asked her, trying to keep a serious face as she would have loved to seen Mike try and explain to Rachel how she was supposed to pass along the message.

"No" Rachel said.

"Ah well then I would suggest you use slip of the tongue than a slip of the hand" Kate advised her in a wry tone as she was glad she didn't have to kiss Tex or the Captain. She was halfway tempted to make a wisecrack about it being 'Sophie's choice' situation for Rachel but didn't as the woman was too stressed to appreciate the humour. Also Kate didn't want Burk who was their escort and boat pilot to know because it was one thing for Kate to make a crack but for Burk to do so would just be uncomfortable.

"Ok" Rachel said looking rather shell shocked by the whole situation not Kate's suggestion.

"You know what I mean by slip of the tongue?" Kate said just clarifying for her own sake that Rachel understood what she meant.

"I get it, thank you" Rachel told her sarcastically.

"And don't swallow it" Kate added, Rachel gave her a droll look as if Kate insulted her by warning her not to swallow a blade wrapped in a piece of paper.

"I think I can handle that" she replied dryly, Kate gave a closed lipped smile.

"You know if Tex was here he'd probably offer to practice technique with you. Over and over until you were quite proficient" Kate told her in a mocking manner not even able to keep a straight face as Rachel shot her a dark look. She couldn't help but make light of the situation as the atmosphere on the boat was incredibly tense and Kate's coping mechanism for such situations was to crack a joke. Though when she was in the Army she'd crack the jokes in her head as no one liked an smart ass when the situation was tense.

"I'm sure I can handle it without anyone's tutelage" Rachel said curtly.

"I don't think I understand, could you two demonstrate for me" Burk teased from the pilot controls of the boat.

"Yeah, in your dreams" Kate told Burk with a laugh.

"You're in an abnormally good mood given the situation" He remarked.

"Am I?" Kate asked mockingly, Rachel nodded in agreement with Burk's observation. She was stressed just like the rest of them but she couldn't help but be a little happy about her little interludes with Mike. So yeah, she was using the memories to block out what was to come. Not that she'd share that with Burk and Rachel.

"Yeah, considering you're going to be spending the night with the Russians" Burk said his eyes narrowed at her as if trying to decipher why. But then she wasn't going to tell him.

"We'll be back to Nathan James in time for breakfast and I heard we're having pancakes" Kate said with a smile as she remember Mike's exasperation at her for talking about breakfast instead of her feelings. She'd think he'd appreciate her not getting all emotional and mushy on him. She definitely appreciated it and the kiss he laid on her before she left.

"Never known pancakes to put a woman in a good mood before" Burk told her.

"Well, you're looking at one who loves pancakes, bacon and maple syrup" Kate said pointing to herself. Burk made a weird face but didn't say anything as the distant sound of a Helo coming their way. Kate looked to the ocean to see if she could spot the direction. It only took a few seconds for them to spot the Helo as it came their way. Burk picked up the radio receiver and contacted Nathan James.

* * *

A few hours later, the Helo landed on the deck of the Vyerni. The sun had set and as the rotor blades of the helo slowed Kate and Rachel were pulled out of the back and escorted across the deck flanked by four soldiers towards to two officers who looked a little overdressed but then Kate couldn't remember what Russian Navy dress standards were or how their ranking system worked.

The Officer to Kate's left was bald with a beard while the man next to him looked younger. He wore a stern expression as he flicked his torch over Rachel and Kate's faces, momentarily blinding them. Kate squinted at the light and looked to her right and saw the guard railing mentally noting the distance and glad it was a clear space. She looked back to the officer with the torch and saw he held two photos still double checking their identities. Once he seemed satisfied, he clicked off the torch and handed it to a soldier next to him and pocketed the photos before said.

"Take off" he ordered in broken English. Rachel placed her metal medical transport container on the ground and exchanged a look with Kate for a moment before they both went to remove their respective life vests off. Kate tossed her life jacket to the ground while Rachel handed hers to the soldier behind her. Then man tossed it to ground without thought. Kate waited and the officer stepped forward moving into Kate's personal space.

"Turn around" he ordered. Kate did as he asked and pulled the iphone case from her back pocket gripping it tightly in her hand and holding her arms wide as the man gave her a pat down that was a little too hands on for her liking. Kate looked over to Rachel who was receiving the same treatment.

"Good" the man said stepping back. Kate turned around to face him. "Phone" he said snapping his fingers and holding his hand out.

"_The deal is for me to hand it over to the Admiral, not his underlings_" Kate told him in Russian, it got the crew's attention, the officer who had spoken in broken English narrowed his eyes at her.

"_Give me the phone or I break your hand and tell the Admiral you resisted_" he told her in Russian.

_"Go ahead. Take it"_ Kate replied in disgust, she held out the iphone case and just the man went to reach it but Kate pretended to fumble with the case and then threw it with all her strength out to the ocean. The soldiers hadn't expected as everyone watched the phone sail over the railing and obviously into the ocean.

"Oops" Kate remarked mock innocent manner. The major snapped his fingers and Kate was gripped tightly by the arms as two soldiers restrained her. The man stepped forward and looked straight into her eyes.

"_You'll pay for your insolence"_ he told her in a low and menacing tone.

She stared right back at him with her own hard look and lifted her chin in defiance. She then pulled her head back and head butted the man in the face. The man cursed viciously in Russian as Blood spurted from him nose. The soldiers who were holding Kate tightened their grip to hard that she was sure she'd have bruises on her arms.

"_Take her below deck and cool her off for Admiral. Make sure to restrain her_" he ordered in Russian.

"Kate?" Rachel said with concern, Kate shot Rachel a smile.

"You'll be fine, you hold all the cards now. Just remember don't give the anything until they let Tex and the Captain go." Kate reminded her with a wink as she dragged away but her bravery was just a façade underneath it she was utterly terrified.

* * *

Some time later,

"Vodka?" Admiral Ruskov asked or so Kate assumed he was as she was standing in a rather lavish room in comparison to what she had seen so far.

Earlier she had been dragged down below into the showers where at gun point she had been forced to strip down naked and remove all her jewellery. It all disappeared to only God knew where and then she was told to shower, all with an audience of Russians soldiers watching her. She probably should have considered herself lucky that they kept their distance for most part.

It didn't stop her from feeling incredibly violated, she knew the only reason majority of them hadn't been game to sexually assault her was that Admiral Ruskov had given orders not to rape her. Yet which was just a small saving grace. Either way after the shower she was given the tiniest towel to dry off and a dark olive green long sleeve kaftan style dress that just barely covered her ass. It probably meant to end mid thigh but Kate's height was in her legs it was a mini skirt.

So skirt lengths worked against her and right now the fashion was definitely against her considering since her bra and knickers had then she wasn't sure if she wanted them back considering they were probably doing the rounds with the Russians. But it would have been nice considering it would mean an extra layer of security and warmth between her and the world and frankly she was not into going commando. Nor did she like the being handcuffed and dragged around the ship like a rag doll. It was incredibly disorientating and cold.

"Please" Kate said as she walked into the room. She had expected Ruskov to be a 7ft tall, burly man who could snap her in half considering the fear he instilled in his crew but instead he was her height, lean build with a weathered face and near bald head. She sized him up with that one look and thought she might have a chance of taking him down. The soldiers between her and the ladder room were another problem all together.

"I am Admiral Konstantin Nikolajewitsch Ruskov and you are Jack Lassiter's lovely wife; Kathryn Lassiter. Please take a seat" he said gesturing to the chair he had pulled out from the dining table.

"Thank you" Kate said to be polite as she sat sounds of the chains connecting her restraints sounded as she shuffled over to the dining table and sat down. She tried to adjust the skirt of her dress but failed miserably.

"I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but so far you have been a rather rude guest" Ruskov said as he moved to the bar and returned with two shot glasses filled with Vodka. He placed one in front of Kate and then took his chair at the head of the table.

"Well, you haven't exactly been the most gracious host either" Kate said as she noted the guard inside the room standing by the door with his hands on his rifle ready to attack if necessary.

"You threw your iphone over board." Ruskov said, he made a tsk, tsk noise with his tongue as if she were an unruly child he was chastising.

"It slipped from my fingers" Kate said dryly as she picked up her shot glass of vodka and took a sip. She tried to keep a straight face but failed as her eyes twitched from the vodka as it tasted like gasoline. She could only surmise the Admiral either had no taste buds or ran out of the good stuff.

"My men also informed me that you have quite a temper" Ruskov said ignoring her comment.

"It's a redhead thing" Kate told him, taking another sip of her vodka. She knew after a few more she'd be too drunk to care about the taste.

"You broke one of my first officer's nose, and seriously injured five of my soldiers" He informed her.

"I have personal space issues as in I like people not to invade mine without permission" Kate told him in a dark tone. He gave her a patronising look.

"I'll keep that in mind" He remarked before he downed his vodka in one go.

"Good, how is Doctor Scott?" Kate asked, she figured the longer they talked the easier it would be to delay whatever Ruskov had planned for her.

"She is with my scientist testing the validity of her vaccine" Ruskov informed her.

"So she is unharmed?" Kate asked.

"Of course. You think of me as a monster?" He asked her, looking somewhat insulted but also amused.

"Considering that you had your men order me at gun point to shower and put on this mockery of dress?" Kate asked as she pulled on the long sleeve dark olive green tunic dress. "Yes, I do think you're a monster" Kate added with a mocking smile. Ruskov barked a laugh.

"Well, actually I ordered them to strip search you to make sure you weren't carrying any tracking or surveillance devices on your person" Ruskov told her as he rose from his chair and went to the bar area. He picked up the decanter of Vodka and retook his seat before he started pouring another round.

"So will I be getting my personal belongings back any time soon? Because I'd like to at least my wedding ring back. It's the only things I have left of my husband" Kate told him, while thinking 'also a great reminder of the mockery that was my marriage' she thought bitterly.

"You don't need the reminders. You're here with me now" Ruskov told her, Kate quirked an eyebrow at him as she didn't like what was he was saying. "and anyway you forfeited your right to them when you broke our deal" he added.

"Our deal?" Kate scoffed, she shook her head. "No, your deal was with Commander Slattery and if I remember rightly the deal you made with him was that I come to your ship with my tech. There was nothing about you getting a hold the tech once I was on board." she told him.

"You were supposed to bring you iphone and laptop. You're here, your phone is at the bottom of the ocean and your laptop is nowhere to be seen" Ruskov told her, she could see he was angry just as she expected him to be but he seemed to be keeping a tight control on it for now.

"I know you're disappointed but imagine how I feel at this point in time" Kate said being a smart ass. Ruskov looked at her for a long moment before he gave her a smile and for some reason he reminded her of Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

"You're going to be trouble maker aren't you?" he asked her in an amused manner.

"No, but be aware that you and the Americans have no control over me" Kate informed him.

"You're here and wearing what I want you to wear for my pleasure" Ruskov argued. Kate picked up her shot glass and downed the shot and never broke eye contact with him. She placed the glass on the table and leaned forward, the chains of her handcuffs clattered on the wood surface of the table.

"You can dress me up and get me drunk but at the end of the day; what I do is my choice. Today I chose to live a few more hours for good vodka and hopefully a cigarette before we get to the unpleasant conversation of what you want from me now you don't have my tech" Kate told him.

Ruskov narrowed his eyes at her and sat back as if assessing her for a moment. Kate held his steady gaze pretending to be confident but right now she freezing cold, her skin was crawling from the way Ruskov looked at her and if the vodka kept rolling she was going to be drunk in 5 more shots maybe less. By then she wouldn't really care or remember which meant if she was going to make it off the ship she needed to slow her drinking down.

Ruskov sat forward in his chair and pulled out a cigarette case and opened it offering it to her. Kate pulled out a cigarette and placed it between her lips. The upside of smoking was that it would slow the flow of vodka. But she knew if she survived the night, she'd be wretchedly sick as vodka and cigarettes with no food was not a happy mix for her.

"It doesn't have to be unpleasant." He said as he lit her cigarette "Your husband and I were friends, he spoke very highly of you although he never mentioned you being a smoker"

"We all have our dirty little secrets" Kate said as she took a slow drag of the cigarette and leaned back in her chair. She wished she could cross her legs but her restraints wouldn't allow it.

"Of course, I only hope this isn't your only one that we can both enjoy together" He remarked as he lit his own cigarette.

"I guess only time will tell" Kate told him before exhaling the smoke over her shoulder. Hoping he didn't notice her shiver in disgust at his comment.

"Well I'd prefer we have a copacetic relationship" Ruskov told her. "My friendship with your husband was rather unorthodox but mutually beneficial" Ruskov remarked attempting to be cryptic but Kate understood him completely. He and Jack exchanged information in lieu of money or something that benefited the other. It was one of those ethical grey areas her husband and Evan liked to operate in. Something Kate truly hated as it meant she would forever be associated with it even though she wasn't them.

"You scratch his back, he scratched yours" Kate said as she took a sip of her vodka.

"Exactly, We could have the same relationship. Lassiter Industries holds subsidiary companies that work for Russian Military. They retrofitted our ship 4 years ago, we were able to capture Evan's last words not that I understand any of it. But I'm sure it was enlightening and beneficial for your company" Ruskov said, she knew he was subtly going to pry information from her. The more drunk she became the more forthcoming he probably expected her to be.

"Evan died, his last words were meaningless jibberish" Kate told him before she took another drag of her cigarette.

"That is unfortunate. My condolences" Ruskov said but he lacked sincerity in his delivery.

"I'd rather have some more vodka and my boots than your empty condolences" Kate told him.

"Yes, I'd like to have the access codes to Lassiter Industries satellite system and the many untapped resources-"

"Untapped resources?" Kate asked incredulously. "There's nothing left" she told him, as she leaned towards the ashtray and tapped the excess ash off her cigarette.

"I am not stupid. Jack told me that there are laboratories, off shore refuelling stations, re-supply centres just to name a few and they have their own independent power sources and security to isolate them from catastrophic events like the one we're enduring. It was so they could rebuild their business and the world from the ground up" Ruskov told her.

"First time I'm hearing about this but then it seems you know my husband better than I do" Kate told him. Ruskov smiled at her.

"Somehow I doubt that, though maybe we can share some memories and more vodka" he told her. He topped up their glasses and then lifted his vodka. "To our future liaisons" he said.

"Yes, to us" Kate remarked knowing full well he was using a double entrendre but she raised her glass anyway because she needed to stay on his good side until before 4am and then all bets are off.

* * *

2:30 am,

Mike stood in the CIC with Jeter as he couldn't remain in the CIC. It was too damn quiet and small for him to remain outwardly calm.

"The team is standing by." Jeter informed him as the extraction team had just called in their location and ETA to the Vyerni.

"Outstanding. Let's hope Dr Scott got him that note." Mike said in a low voice as he stared at the screen ahead of him where a red marker signified the position of the Vyerni. So far everything appeared to be running smoothly but then they had no idea what was happening on the Vyerni to Kate, Tom, Tex and Doctor Scott.

So for right now they were waiting, something Mike really didn't have a lot of patience for as he could only imagine what was happening on the Vyerni and his imagination was not helping him remain calm and level headed. There was also the fact that Admiral Ruskov hadn't called to gloat about having everything he needed with Rachel and Kate.

Nor did they get the call that Ruskov was sending the Captain and Tex back to them, for some reason Mike would've felt like he had truly screwed up this time except for the fact they had a plan and the only downside was that he'd have to wait until the team returned to know that it worked. By his estimation they wouldn't know if the others were successful until after sunrise.

He looked to Kate's iphone on the table in front of him. It was still connected to CIC systems, something about that made him uneasy as there was a lot they still didn't know about Lassiter Industries especially who's side they were on before the pandemic happened. But given what Kate had shown them, the intel the data packet held didn't comfort him especially since something in there had affected Kate. Curiosity got the better of him and since he knew he wouldn't be doing anything else but waiting he moved to the table and picked up the iphone.

* * *

3 am,

"That was Jack" Kate said wiping the tears from her eyes before she swallowed down the vodka. Ruskov knew her husband well as he had told her many stories and poured a lot vodka and smoked a lot cigarettes. At least he had provided some food to soak up the alcohol. Ruskov was laughing with her as he poured her vodka.

"Oh no more, I may pass out soon" Kate purposefully slurred though she was definitely drunk and she had a bad taste in her mouth which she wasn't sure was the cigarettes or just pretending to be chummy with Ruskov.

"For an American you have a high tolerance for alcohol" Ruskov chided as they cheers their shot glasses and then downed the vodka. If he only knew she was about one shot away from losing her stomach. She knew one more shot and she was not going to keep it down.

"I am Australian thank you very much. Drinking is a national pass time though I prefer beer" Kate told him, she was about to continue but the door opened and his first officer the one with a broken nose walked him. He moved over to Ruskov and spoke in rapid Russian in a low tone that it was hard for Kate understand him in her drunken state.

The man looked perturbed at whatever was being told as he waved the man off. He looked to Kate and poured her another drink.

"I'm afraid I have to leave you for a little while" Ruskov told her.

"Oh but we're only 3/4's into the bottle" Kate told him.

"Yes, but as always an Admiral's job is never finished. It seems my presence is required for elsewhere for the moment" he said as he rose from his chair and straightened his jacket. "Can I trust you to not harm my men or do I have to put you in a cage?" he asked her. She sat back in her chair and gave him a playful pout.

"I'll behave" Kate told him. He looked her over in a lascivious manner so it wasn't too hard for her to know what he was looking forward to.

"I wish I could believe you" he told her. "Take her to the cells, no one touches her" Ruskov said to the soldier. Kate pursed her lips in displeasure as Ruskov left the room. She didn't like the idea of being caged up like a dog. The soldier left in the room to stand guard raised his weapon and looked at her.

"Get up and move slowly" The soldier ordered her. Kate downed the shot of vodka and then rose from her chair slowly. The room swirled and her stomach turned, she placed a hand on the table to steady herself.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm going to be sick" Kate promised him as she was about 3 seconds from fulfilling it. "Bathroom" she choked out before covering her mouth the soldier pointed to a door to the side of the room.

"In there" he ordered, Kate moved as quickly as she could given her state and made it just in time to the greet the sink. The Russian soldier stood back and watched on in disgust as her stomach upend itself into the sink. Kate groaned and slammed the door to the bathroom and locked herself into the small space before she went into round two of getting the vodka out of her system.

* * *

Mike scrolled through the long list of files on the phone. Majority of which were not in English. He wondered if maybe there was some kind of search engine to help him narrow his search down but didn't want to risk losing the window he was in. Technology was not his friend on the best of days, sure he understood how to use it and was trained to so with competence but the screen on Kate's iphone was not an app he was familiar with. So he wasn't feeling too adventurous to mess with it.

He thumb downed at a rapid pace until the alphabet key showed up and went to the obvious letters first like 'P' for personnel records and if he couldn't find what he was looking their he's just scroll onto other variations as he was looking for Kate's and Tex's personnel files first.

* * *

After a few more rounds of being sick, Kate was pretty sure she was empty. She turned on the tap drowned the sink with water washing away the mess knowing that if she got out of this alive she was not going to touch cigarettes or vodka ever again. She rinsed her mouth out with water and groaned as her stomach rolled informing her it was not finished with her. She closed her eyes and leaned over the sink as she tried to quell her nausea. After a few moments it subsided slightly she opened her eyes and looked into the small mirror.

"Pull it together" Kate said under breath, she leaned her head against the mirror for a moment as nausea rolled over her. She really needed to get out of her restraints and get to the Ladder room. A place she was having a hard time trying to remember where it was due to the vodka and nausea. She lifted her head off the cold mirror and slowly looked around the small space.

There was a toilet, small shower, vanity mirror and sink. She opened vanity mirror and looked in the cupboard behind it at all of Ruskov's toiletries. She snooped around trying to find something to help get herself out of the handcuffs because the thought of dislocating her thumb only made her want to vomit again.

"You finished" the Russian shouted through the door.

"Not even clo-" Kate made some gagging noises and turned on the tap before she looked around the room again. It was then she spotted the bobbi pin on the floor by toilet. Kate quirked an eyebrow as she wondered how the man had a blonde coloured bobby pin. But not wasting time on it, she knelt down to the floor and picked it but had to stop as her head swam and vision distorted.

"I really hate vodka" she said under breath as her vision cleared. She took a slow and deep breath before she bent the bobbi pin out of shape so she could pick the handcuffs.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

* * *

"I hate handcuffs" Kate mumbled as she jiggled the bobbi pin after a few tries the lock gave and Kate gave a sigh of relief. She took the cuff off her wrist knowing she didn't have enough time to unpick the other she locked the free cuff next to it's partner like a bracelet. She got to her feet and shook out her legs before she moved to the vanity cabinet. She looked through the medicines noting he had pain killers, sleeping meds, caffeine tablets but no anti-nausea meds. It was a shame as she would have loved something to stop her stomach from revolting on her but knew it was a waste of time. But she did pull out the bottle of cologne and spritzed the air; testing it. She gagged and waved the air around her hoping to dissipate the smell as it was obviously stale given how bad it smelt. So she shut the cabinet closed and looked to the door that went into the main room.

She moved to the door. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, steeling herself for what was about to come as it had been over 3 years since she'd even sparred let alone been in a physical fight in over 2 years. She highly doubted that this would be as evenly balanced as the bar fight Tex had gotten her involved in back then. She was rusty as hell in hand to hand combat but she didn't have a choice. She had to fight. But it was now or never, she couldn't remember what the time was but it had to be close to 3:30am or worse 4am. She needed to get out of there and to the ladder room quick all because Mike made her promise that she come back or at least try. Hiding in the bathroom wasn't really considered 'trying'. So she opened the door slowly and saw the soldier leaning against the wall.

The soldier turned to face her and she immediately sprayed his face with the cologne blinding him temporarily before she smacked him the head with the cologne bottle.

* * *

Mike sat on the edge of his seat in CIC as he read Kate's Personnel records. It hadn't been obvious at first as her records were under her maiden name which seemed didn't make any sense to him as she married into their family. He assumed they would have put her records in her married name, he had wondered if that was what had pissed her off but when he opened the folder he got his answer. In fact he got a lot of answers as it looked like her brother in law's company did an extensive background on Kate.

It was incredibly of creepy just reading her personnel file as it was more in-depth than anything he'd seen before. It looked like her whole adult life since she joined the military. Everything from mission reports, commendations, disciplinary notes, psych evaluations, medical history, previous addresses, financial records etc.

He could see why it would piss her off as it was a violation of her privacy. Hell, he felt violated as he was in the file under 'past liaisons'. There were records of hotels, flights, locations. The information on him was brief but it was enough to get him into trouble if it ever came to light. He had only been glossing through it when he spotted his own name.

Either way, it was extensive and Kate was a rather private person. It wasn't like she kept it all locked up and didn't tell anyone. She just didn't bring it up and when she did she gave the details sparingly but then he respected that as everyone was entitled to their privacy and no one needed to know every little detail about their partner's past. Unless it was affecting their present then he could see a reason to push but even so he'd ask. Not dedicate company resources to dig up the past. That was a whole other level of crazy that he was glad he wasn't capable of.

He looked at his watch and noted the time. It was 3:46 am. He needed to get to the bridge, he exited the out of the file and folders into the main directory before he placed the iphone back on the table and rose from his chair.

* * *

To say the Russian was pissed off would be understatement as he threw her into wardrobe with such force the frail wooden doors of the wardrobe splintered to pieces from the force of Kate's weight crashing into it. She barely registered the pain as her brain warbled from the remnants of Vodka. But sadly it didn't help her reaction times as the Russian grabbed her by the foot and dragged her across the floor and she struggled and tried to kick out of his grip.

When he reached down to flip her over she managed to kick him in the chin. His head snapped upwards from the strike and he dropped the leg he had been holding. Kate took advantage of being free of his grip and backwards rolled onto her feet just as he brandished a knife.

Kate frantically looked around for a weapon but found none before he came straight at her and swung the knife at ducked the first swing and as he swiped back she stepped into his personal space and punched him in the throat with her right hand and wrapped her left arm around his arm that brandished the knife. She didn't waste time as she pushed her right hand in his shoulder and wrenched his arm dislocating his shoulder. The knife dropped to the floor. The man crooned in pain but it came out as a gargled noise due to the damage she did to his larynx. She dropped his dislocated arm and right hooked him across the face. As the man stumbled back she roundhouse kicked him in the head and he dropped to floor thankfully unconscious.

Kate went for the knife but she barely picked up the knife in time as the door opened when another soldier came into the room. She threw the knife at him but missed him completely as it pinged off the wall and clattered to the ground. and Kate cursed under breath as he looked to the floor where the knife was and then at her and quickly pulled his side arm.

"_Hands on head and slowly get to your knees or I shoot them out"_ he told her in Russian. Obviously the 'do not harm Kate' rule was rescinded.

"Okay, okay just relax" she told him in English as he repeated the same order as she walked towards him in a slow manner with her hands up in surrender. When she was close enough she swerved her head out of the firing line of the gun as she grabbed the muzzle of the gun with one hand. She stepped in fast and hit man in the face with an elbow strike and followed through with her body turning her back to his chest as she wrenched the gun out of his hand.

Her grip slipped on gun as it fell to floor so she swung around, unluckily for her the man ducked and punched her in the stomach before caught her arm pulling it into a lock. He pushed her forward and shoved her face down onto the dining table. Kate struggled against him as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

He leaned in close to her ear as he snapped on one handcuff but didn't get a chance to say what he wanted to as Kate snapped her head back hitting him in the face. He cursed at her and lifted off her just enough that she was able to elbow him in the flank.

Kate spun around to face him and went to punch him in the sternum but he managed to block her punch and deliver a left hook. Kate fell to the floor from the strength of the punch. The room seemed to sway as blood filled her mouth as her lip split on her teeth.

She tried to push up but she was too disoriented, the Russian kicked her hard in the flank and she cried out in pain as she rolled onto her back. He went to kick her again but she used her own legs and tripped him. He fell onto his back and his head smacked the ground hard. Kate quickly got up and pulled the lamp from one of the side tables next to the lounge closest to her and yanked it the cord as the Russian rolled onto his front.

He had just started to get up when she smacked him with the Lamp and then wrapped the cord around his neck a couple times and pulled hard; strangling him.

He struggled for air and tried to get the upper hand but Kate pushed her knee into his back and used it to leverage her weight and continued to pull on the cord.

After what felt like an eternity, the man went limp and slumped in the hold. Kate let go of the cord and dropped the man to the floor. She bent over him and felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt nothing. She heaved for air and looked over at the clock on the wall and cursed as it was 3:57 am. She only had 3 minutes to get to the Ladder room.

* * *

Mike looked to Jeter as the man joined him on the bridge. "Master Chief, how you feeling?" he asked as it was getting close to 4 am. If everything was going smoothly the extract team would soon be on it's way back to the Nathan James. Within a couple of hours they would be contacted and given an update on either the success or the failure of the mission. Mike couldn't wish the time away fast enough.

"Scared to death, sir." Jeter replied, though the man's demeanour did not betray fear but he did look tense. but he wasn't the only one feeling tense as everyone was on their edge of their seats waiting for something to happen.

"Well, you're not alone, I'm sure." Mike told him as he knew he afraid for Kate and the others.

"No, sir. I am not." Jeter replied.

Yeah." Mike said mostly to himself as he moved to the back of the bridge and opened the box on the wall pulling out the radio receiver to address the ship. The high pitch whistle sounded along with the chirp noise it made as it alerted the crew that they were about to be addressed. Mike had been wondering what he would say when the moment came and had come up empty. He gave a sigh and then clicked the radio.

"This is your X.O." he said addressing the crew. He looked around wondering where Tom found his inspirational speeches. Those on the bridge looked to him. "So Two sailors walk into a bar. And they both walk out." he said while mentally berating himself because he forgot where he was going with the joke. So instead of trying to go with it he decided to be short, sweet and direct. "We will get our people back. We will get our Captain back. That is all." he said. He hung up the receiver and closed the box on the wall as the radio PA whistled ending the call.

"Granderson, Manoeuvre the ship into position to pick up the extract team." He ordered the lieutenant.

"Aye, sir." she said, Mike moved to stand next to Jeter and the bridge crew moved around doing as he ordered.

"Thought I'd open with a joke." Mike said in a low voice to Jeter vainly trying to inject some levity into the situation.

"It was a good one, sir." Jeter informed him. Mike folded his arms across his chest and watched the bridge crew work as there wasn't much else for him to do at that moment but be present and be ready give more orders as the situation progressed.

* * *

Kate slumped to the floor with her back against the wall, her energy completely spent as she had lost her way to the Ladder room. But then she couldn't remember if she had been going the right direction to begin with. She looked over at the dead Russian soldier, poor sod had probably gotten off shift before running into her. The fight had been brutal as he now laid dead in a pool of his own blood less than a metre away from her.

Kate wasn't in much better shape herself but at least majority of her injuries were superficial but given that she was dehydrated and still drunk even after being sick multiple times in combo with all the running around and fighting. Exhaustion brought her to her knees as her body became heavy, she bargained with herself that she'd just rest here for a moment but she knew she wasn't going to make it to the rally point. She couldn't even remember where it was and it wasn't like there was a ship map directory she could consult to find her way.

She closed her eyes as tears ran down her face as she could barely grip the handle of knife she had used in her bloodied hand. Exhaustion, bitter disappointment and sadness filled her more at her own failure than being left behind as she knew they had to of left her behind as it was well after 4am.

* * *

Burk slowed as they were about to round into the next passageway. They were running behind on their schedule in the extraction plan but they were nearly to the rendezvous point for the RIB. Just a couple passage ways and they'd be there. No one had found Kate in their travels which had been disheartening as Burk had wanted to bring everyone home. But no one had seen her or even had the slightest clue of where she was.

The lights in the passageway they had to traverse was flickering on and off, which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He carefully leaned his head around the corner for a quick check to make sure the coast was clear when he saw the mayhem. He pulled his head back and motioned for Tom, and Lt. Green. Tom ducked his head out first for a quick check, seeing exactly what Burk did.

They exchanged looks before Tom turned to Green, Rachel and Tex. "You three stay here" he told them in a low voice. Tex and Green nodded acknowledging the order before Lt Green took up the rear again watching for Russian soldiers.

Tom motioned to Burke, and then they proceeded down the passageway rifles raised as they approached Kate and the fallen soldier. Tom looked to Burke who shook his head indicating the Russian was dead. Tom looked to Kate.

She looked to be barely breathing as she sat on the floor with her legs tucked under her and her back slumped against the wall. Her head was down and her hair was a tangled mess, the dress she was in was ripped. Her face was bloodied and bruised, in fact she was just covered in bruises. So it was hard for him to tell how bad the injuries were, where she wasn't covered in blood; her skin was pale. She reeked of blood, sweat, vodka and bad cologne. He didn't want to think about what happened to her only that he was going to get her off the ship.

Tom swung his rifle over his shoulder and crouched down in front of Kate. He barely touched her on the shoulder when her eyes snapped open and she grabbed his shirt with one hand and tried to pull him down while her other hand came up wielding a knife. He lost his footing in the blood and dropped one knee to the floor as he was taken by surprise but luckily his reflexes were still in check and caught the wrist of her knife wielding hand just as the blade grazed his chin.

"Lassiter" he said but she was bleary eyed and wild as she was in defensive mode as she kept her face low and fought him. He gripped her wrist a little tighter overpowering her with ease and pushing her arm away from him while at the same time used his other hand on her shoulder and pinned her against the wall as he pulled his head back before Kate could try to attack. He applied more pressure to her shoulder and wrist careful not to break her bones. "Kate, look at me" he ordered, she lifted her face and turned to look at him. Her eyes wide with shock.

"Captain" she murmured. He winced as he saw the full extent of her face, swollen cheek. She was deathly pale with a heavy sheen of sweat under the blood and gore. Her body went lax in relief as she looked at him for a moment and turned slightly greyer under the gore and her eyes rolled in her head.

"Hey, stay with me" Tom told Kate as he was sure she was going to pass out.

"Tap my face and I'll vomit on you" Kate warned him. Tom gave a wry smile at the warning though he believed she would definitely deliver on it if he tried to wake her up but she didn't have the luxury of sleep.

"Noted. Can you walk?" he asked her. She took a moment to nodded none the less.

"I think so with some assistance" she said but she didn't instil any confidence in him as she was having difficulty keeping her head up.

"Sir, we gotta keep moving" Burk said stating the obvious.

"Alright" Tom said, he adjusted his grip on Kate's wrist and moved it to her elbow and the hand at her shoulder to her upper arm of her left arm. "Let's get you up" he said, he rose to his feet slowly and pulled Kate to hers. She made a noise of pain as she kept her lips in a tight fine line. He looked her at her with deep concern and wished he had a jacket to give her because the 'dress' if it could be called that left little to the imagination and she seemed to be aware of it as she tugged on the hem before wrapping her arms around her middle self-consciously.

He did a quick whistle; Green Tex and Rachel came down the hallway. "Careful of the blood" Tom cautioned them as he steadied Kate with one hand and pulled his rifle back around. "Doc, you'll need to assist Kate. Stay in the middle of the group" he said to Rachel who moved to help Kate stay upright.

* * *

A few minutes later,

Kate hoped they knew where they were going and that they would get there soon as she was barely able to stay upright even with Rachel's help. After a few duck and weaves through the deck and the interior of the ship they made it to what Kate assumed was the Port side. They rounded a corner.

"Got visual" Burke said, that was when Kate spotted Cossetti and Cruz holding guard at the railing. She had been way off from where she thought the ladder room was. Green, Tom, Burk and Tex joined the two men and kept an eye out for the trouble. She and Rachel raced forward as fast as they could as Cossetti tapped the pole to where small ladder that hung over the side of the ship.

Rachel went over first and quickly climbed over the railing and slowly made her way down the ladder. Kate looked over the railing down at the RIB. Her vision swam with stars and specks. She crouched down against her own will as exhaustion rolled over her.

"Kate, move it" Tom ordered her as he gripped her by her injured right arm and pulled her up to her feet. She nearly vomited as pain spiked through her but knew he was right. She had to get onto the boat below and right now she was holding up the rescue. Kate climbed over the railing pinching her lips together in an attempt to not make a noise as every rung pained her. When she made it near to the bottom, tears were dripping down her face as she felt a pair of hands grab her waist. She made a small noise of protest as it hurt like hell.

"I got you Ma'am, you can let go" Soldier whose name eluded Kate said in a hushed tone. She released her hold and he quickly deposited her to her feet in the boat before signalling to the next person to come down. Kate felt a little lost but it didn't last long as Rachel called to her.

"Kate, over here" she said in a low voice, Kate moved towards her haphazardly as her vision started streak with stars and her legs turned to Jelly. All signs she was about to pass out, so she moved as quickly as she could and practically collapsed down next to Rachel given the lack of grace. She wiped the tears from her face trying to act cool and strong. Something she felt incredibly far removed from.

"Med kit?" Kate heard Rachel ask someone but her vision was obscured with sparks and stars as she drew her legs under her and leaned back against the edge of the boat and bit back a groan of pain as she gave into her injuries.

* * *

Sometime later,

Kate woke up when she felt like she had been jolted. She opened her eyes and squinted at the brightness of the morning sky. It felt like it was burning her retinas. Her mouth felt dry and throat scratchy. She smelt horrendous, she tried to move but found herself cocooned in what she hoped was a blanket. She tried to moved but stopped when a face filtered into her vision above her.

"Hey sleepyhead" Tex said in a slow and happy manner. Kate groaned as his voice and cheerfulness only made her more aware of all her aches and pains. She tried to get up again but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Uh-uh. Just lie back. You're getting lifted up to the deck for medical" Tex told her. Panic filled her as it took her a moment to remember they weren't on the Vyerni but back at the Nathan James. She didn't even remember the trip back to the Nathan James.

"What? No" she said as she felt bile rise in her throat as she remembered the blood and the smell of her body in it's current state made feel sick. "Oh no, I can't. I need to get up" Kate told him because there was no way was she going to make a spectacle of herself or have Mike see her like this. Let alone smell her, yeah she was cognizant and just that vain enough to care. In fact she didn't want anyone near her until she was clean and in her own clothes.

She wanted to quietly get off this RIB on her two feet and scrub herself raw then have a litre of water with her pancakes that Mike promised would be waiting for her. Being lifted out on a stretcher and taken to the infirmary was not the plan. So with that thought she summoned her strength and pulled her left arm free and was about to push herself up when Tex grabbed it and she felt a pinprick in her right arm.

"Did you just stab me with a needle?" She accused Tex, confused as to how he could be on her left but stab her in the right side. He gave her an amused smile.

"Technically, Doctor Scott did but it was my idea" Tex told her. Kate looked over to her left and saw Rachel, it was a bit hard to focus on her face because of the brightness of the blue morning sky.

"Oh wow" Kate said when she started to feel the effects of whatever was in the needle but it was amazing as all the aches and pains faded and she felt herself relax into a warm and fuzzy place.

"Yeah, you like that don't you?" Tex asked her. Kate sluggishly pushed his face away with her free hand.

"I don't like you. Pancakes" Kate murmured at him as she was having difficulty saying what she wanted to say as there was a disconnect between her mouth and her brain.

"I have a new nickname" Tex announced to those around him attempting to be humorous.

"No, Pancakes is what's for breakfast this morning. Kate was looking forward to it" Rachel informed him, bursting Tex's bubble.

"Well, that puts me in my place" Tex said in resignation as he moved out of Kate's vision.

"She out?" Tom asked from just outside of Kate's vision range, she would have looked around to see where he was but the blue sky was just too cheerfully bright for her to do so and her body was content to lie where it was and not move.

"Kate is concious but immobilised. It's safe to move her" Rachel informed him.

* * *

Mike and Jeter moved to the side in the passage way as two crewman Kate was carried on a stretcher in the direction to Infirmary. He looked at Kate with concern taking in what he could as she was wrapped up in a blanket with just her face and her feet both covered in dried blood and looking messed up. He watched her be taken down the hallway and desperately wanted to follow but forced himself to go out onto the deck to see the others first.

They had gotten the call, and he had heard that they had lost one person but he didn't know who. Judging by how fast Kate was carried down the hallway she was alive which was a huge relief to him.

He pushed open the door and went out onto the deck where a crowd had formed. He stood back as he spotted familiar faces. Relief washed over him as none of them seemed too badly injured. But their grim expressions and the fact no one was cheering told him that Kate was not the only casualty. The crowd before him started pulling off their hats and parted, Mike watched as Lt Green lifted Cossetti into his arms bridal style.

It only took one look to know the man was dead. It burned to know they lost another soldier especially Cossetti as the kid had only been trying to redeem himself after being one of the instigators for Mutiny. His death would be seen now as the ultimate sacrifice in a show of his loyalty even if it wasn't voluntary and Mike knew it would weigh heavily on them all. Lt Green walked towards him with Cossetti in his arms. The young man gave him a nod before walking past him followed by Tex and Burke. Mike didn't miss the dirty look Tex gave him and wondered what the man was pissed off at him about. But now wasn't the time to ask what his problem was so instead he watched them walk by and then looked to Tom.

It was a moment of truth, he would know with just one look what Tom thought of Mike's short tenure as the Nathan James' Captain and Mike's blatant disregard for Tom's last orders. Tom walked to him and jutted his chin up at him in greeting. Mike lifted his chin slightly and squared his shoulders waiting for Tom to say something possibly even dress him down in front of the others for insubordination and the consequences of it. But instead Tom gave a resigned nod as if to say 'alright' and then walked past him. Only Dr Scott was left from the party that arrived back, she stopped in front of him and gave him a closed lipped smile. There was something reassuring about that made him comforted that he had made the right choice even if they had lost Cossetti and Kate was in the Infirmary.

Rachel walked past him, and he turned and watched her disappear through the doorway. He blew out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding as relief washed over him at the semi successful mission. He looked to Jeter who looked equally relieved as he did to have everyone back on board. He needed to go check on Kate but right now he was on duty and it begrudgingly came before his wants. He gave one more look over his shoulder and then followed the same direction as the others and went back inside the ship.


	28. Chapter 28

_A/N: Sorry about the late update.. experiencing a heatwave which kinda melted my brain but I'm all good and back at it! Hope you all like and thank you for all the reviews! I just thought I'd answer a Q. about what I'm doing when I reach the season finale.. I'd plan to wait until season 2 next year and start again.. but I also have some ideas of what I'd like to do/see my OC character do and make my own AU timeline so I'll make a decision when I'm closer to finishing this story :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 28**

* * *

"Dr Scott" Mike said from the open doorway to the Infirmary. The woman looked up from the file she was writing in and snapped it shut to give him her full attention.

"Commander. What can I do for you?" Rachel asked in a normal tone. She looked exhausted but it was something she and everyone on board were suffering from in spades.

"I came to see how Lassiter is" Mike said as he came into the small room. Cossetti's body laid on the bed in the main room. He was cleaned up and covered in a sheet to his chest. He was sure that the man's remains would be dressed for formal burial tomorrow in the next few hours. He looked into the side room where Kate laid on the bottom bunk. She had been cleaned up and changed into hospital scrubs. Her eyes were closed and her face pale as half her body was covered in gel packs. The room was darkened but he could make some of the extent of her injuries and the gel packs covering majority of her right side were not a good sign.

"Luckily, she has minor injuries. A few lacerations, bruising and possibly a couple of rib fractures and a fracture of the Humerus b-" Rachel started but Mike cut her off mid sentence.

"Possible?" Mike asked for clarification, Rachel gave a sigh of resignation as if she had answered the question one too many times.

"I'd need an X Ray to confirm it, her upper arm is incredibly swollen. It could be just bruised muscle tissue or a hairline fracture. It's impossible to know without an Xray or talking with Kate which will have to wait for when the sedative Doctor Rios gave her wears off. But in the interim we have been using the gel packs to ice her arm down off and on. Hopefully it will help reduce the swelling." Rachel told him.

"So other than possible broken bones and looking like one huge walking bruise anything else I should know?" Mike asked her, Rachel narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before she realised he was asking if Kate had been sexually assaulted.

"What are you trying to ask?" she asked him as she wanted clarification and maybe she just wanted to push him to see how he would react. She was surprised as he didn't give her the usual passive aggressive look instead he looked pained and deeply concerned.

"Please don't make me say it out loud" he said in a low and pleading tone as he knew it would be his luck that someone would overhear them and then gossip it around the ship. But he needed to know the extent of her injuries for his conscience more than his job as XO. He saw the reluctance in Rachel's features but also the surprise. Most probably because he said 'please' or so he assumed. He really needed to dial back on being an asshole but it was his default setting.

"Not that it is any of your business or that I should tell you but there are no signs that she assaulted in that distasteful manner" Rachel told him, she watched as relief momentarily washed over him at the knowledge but it didn't last long before he looked pensive.

"Thank you" he said giving a nod, feeling slightly relieved at the knowledge though it didn't stop him from feeling any less guilt at knowing it was his fault. "When will I be able to talk with her?" he asked her. Rachel gave a half shrug and shake of her head.

"I'm not sure, we're waiting for the sedatives to wear off. Maybe try in a few hours or tomorrow morning." Rachel suggested.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mike asked her, looking at her. She knew he was referring to her in the more general sense of the infirmary and assisting Kate not personally.

"No, we're fine here for the moment" Rachel said, feeling empathy for him as he was trapped in his role as XO and even though he was unhappily married; it didn't give him a free pass to act on his emotions the way he wanted. As she could imagine he'd rather spend time watching over her for a couple hours but didn't have the luxury to show deference. Mike gave a reluctant nod as Rachel was sure that he didn't know what to do.

"Ok, but if there is anything you need. Let me know" he told her as he took one last look at Kate and made moves to leave.

"Of course" Rachel said as she watched him go.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

Rachel was in her labs looking at the computer screens but seeing nothing as all she could think about was the Vyerni. She had left the infirmary, showered and managed to stomach some food but getting some sleep was a challenge to say the least. So she came to her lab to get some work done but found she couldn't even focus her mind.

She was a trained physician, she had travelled worldwide; doctors without borders before she chose her speciality of virology. She had watched many people succumb to diseases and infections but never had she played an active role in murdering a man. _Two men..._ she silently corrected herself as she had sent that man in with a placebo vaccination before she shot that man. She jumped as the door to her lab opened and silently cursed at being so jumpy and agitated. She turned in her seat to see Rios come into the room looking distressed.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked him as he looked around the room, for some irrational reason she wanted to shout at him to get out of her space.

"We lost her" Rios told her as he obviously didn't find what he was looking for.

"Who?" Rachel asked as 'her' could mean at least twenty people on the ship.

"Kate. I stepped out of the infirmary to get some coffee and when I got back and she was gone. I've searched this deck but can't find her. She couldn't have gotten far" Rios told her.

"We should contact the-" Rachel was about to say that they contact the Bridge or CIC to put out a P.A. Alert to the crew as Kate couldn't have gone unnoticed in her state when the P.A. system activated.

_"Doctor Scott, Immediately report to section-_" The P.A. stated the location and repeated the message. She looked to Rios.

"You should contact Commander Slattery and inform him immediately as you need to find her before she injures herself further" Rachel said as she left him.

* * *

Three minutes earlier elsewhere on the ship,

"I doubt the Russians will be an issue for us and Dr Scott having a successful vaccine we can finally set course for home" Tom said as he and Mike walked through the passage way in officer country heading towards the Helo bay. Tom had thankfully showered much to Mike's gratitude as no one had come off the Vyerni smelling like roses but he would have appreciated it if Tom had rested for a couple hours before jumping straight back into the thick of things. It was something that annoyed him as it made him feel like Tom didn't think he could do his job properly.

Ok, sure he disobeyed orders to rescue the Captain and Tex along with a plethora of other issues he didn't want to think about but they had been his decisions and whilst in long term may not seem like the best moves. It had gotten nearly everyone back alive and well. The only fatality had been Cossetti which Mike knew would weigh on him much like all the other soldiers they had lost due their command decisions. But it was the burden of the title, something he and Tom had learned from day one would have to be carried.

But right now he was going to enjoy the success of the mission and the fact that they had a vaccine and would be going home. Something he wanted from day one.

"That's what I like to hear" Mike said as he liked the knowledge that he was closer to getting off the Nathan James, closer to being able to find his daughters and moving forward with Kate at his side. As grim as the situation was it did make his spirits lift to know he would be on his way to getting his family back together. A fresh start of sorts.

Hell, he just hoped in the time it took them to get back to the States there was something left to save of their Country and it's people. He also hoped Kate was recovered from her injuries. Just thinking about her lying in the infirmary injured; twisted his insides. He wished he had been on the Vyerni and killed those Russians for what hurting her but it didn't matter now as the Vyerni was now sunk to the bottom of the ocean or so Mike hoped.

"But I will speak with Dr Scott and make sure this time it's real before making any announcements. I'm tired of getting people's hopes up. I also want Cossetti to be given a formal dawn service" Tom added as they continued down the passage way. Crew members moved out of the way giving them the space to keep moving without interruption.

"Plans are in the works. We'll have it the day after tomorrow as Doc Rios needs time to prep Cossetti's remains" Mike informed him.

"Good" Tom said slowly as he stopped abruptly due to Lt Green as the man practically ran out of the mens' showers soaked and wearing nothing but a towel as he skidded right into their path.

"Uh Captain, Commander" he said awkwardly in greeting to them as he clutched the towel around his hips, red faced and embarrassed. He immediately stepped backed to move out of their way. Like they would just keep on their way after that performance.

"Lt Green" Tom said giving him an odd look as he like Mike wondered what had the grown man running from the shower room. Tom and Mike gave him the look of 'explain yourself'.

"Lassiter is in there" Green informed them quickly as he knew he had to give them a reason. Tom quirked an eyebrow while Mike frowned as he thought she would be out cold until tomorrow. That's what Rachel had told him and frankly he didn't like the idea of Kate wandering around in her condition or the fact that it had gone completely unnoticed.

"She try to join you in the shower?" Tom asked mockingly even though he was wondering how the hell she had managed to get from the Infirmary up to the shower room in her condition and without anyone noticing her. He gave Mike a sideways glance wondering what his XO was thinking about it. Obviously he too was curious how no one had mentioned it as he asked Doc Rios to keep him updated. Tom wanted to know what Ruskov wanted from Kate. A conversation that needed to be had and he felt the sooner the better as he couldn't help but feel incredibly suspicious of how well connected she was with everything that was going on even if she was innocent.

"Not exactly. I just came out of the stall as she just walked in and dumped a bag on the floor. I don't think she's all there as she started to undress. So I left" Lt Green explained, he said the last part in such a casual way that is sounded like he just strolled out instead of running out like the shower room was about to explode or something. But then the man was already in the dog house for fraternization. It wasn't going to help him if he was caught in the showers with another woman.

"Anyone else in there?" Tom asked him. Green shook his head.

"No sir, if she had come by 10 minutes earlier. It would have been a different story." Green said.

"Get Doctor Scott up here" Tom said to Mike. It was already a given they would need Doctor Scott as there were rules that needed to followed and entering a room with possibly a naked woman was just a general 'no-no' on the ship unless said female was crying for help.

"XO to Bridge" Mike said into his shoulder radio, he waited for them to respond and ordered them to call Dr Scott to his location immediately. After he switched off the radio, he looked to Tom as they exchanged a silent game of 'what are we going to do now?'.

Obviously Mike wanted to go in there but he had to play his part and look reticent as he pushed the door open slightly. It was just enough so his voice would travel but not wide enough for him to see if she was in there.

"Sir, shouldn't we wait for the Doctor?" Lt Green asked as the Bridge paged Dr Scott to their location came over the P.A. System. Mike ignored Green as he wasn't going to rush into the room no matter how tempted he was. Propriety was a real pain in the ass, so unless he heard a cry for help of something hard hitting the floor the door was as far as he could go.

"Lassiter, you alive in there?" Mike called out, Lt Green as he was more concerned about Kate. He was about to damn propriety and push the door open and go in when Kate's head appeared in the opening. Small wave of relief washed through him as it meant she wasn't lying on the floor dead but even so she didn't look well.

"Hey, what's up?" Kate asked sounding a little out of breath as she gripped the door with one hand and looked at them quizzically.

"You alright?" Mike asked her, deeply concerned as he could see the bruises and scrapes on her face and the knuckles of her hand that clutched the door but he couldn't see the rest of her due to the door blocking his view. He was half tempted to push it open but he had no clue if she was completely naked or not. But he did know she was high on pain killers as her pupils were pinpoints and she had a rather vague expression on her face like she wasn't entirely in the same place as the rest of them.

"Peachy, you have a knife?" Kate asked him in a casual tone, snapping Mike out of reverie as he wanted to know what happened to her and how badly injured she was. Given that she was spaced out on drugs she probably had no awareness of her injuries or the fact that she should be lying down not trying to have a shower in the men's shower room. But then he wondered if maybe she was purposefully pretending to act spaced out as the sweat on her brow told him it was taking her a lot of effort to stay standing.

"You're supposed to be in infirmary" Mike told Kate in a stern tone so she would focus and because there was no way in hell he or anyone else was going to give her a knife in her current state.

"Am I? cause I woke up in the morgue and I know I smell dead but I'm very much alive. So I'm trying to have shower to clear up any future confusion" Kate told him in a matter of fact tone but she looked upset and angry at thinking they thought she was dead; something Mike didn't blame her for feeling even if she was the one who was mistaken and confused.

"In the men's showers?" Tom asked dryly as he knew she had been taken to the infirmary as the ship didn't have a morgue. Kate looked to Tom and narrowed her eyes at him for a moment as if trying to figure him out before she answered.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked them as if they were the ones who didn't have a clue.

"Ah yeah, did you not see me?" Green asked her from behind the two men. Kate quirked an eyebrow and took a moment to ponder the situation or so Mike assumed until she spoke again.

"You must not have been that impressive though if you've been in here it does explain the smell of manchild lingering in the air." Kate said thoughtfully to Lt Green who looked embarrassed and insulted. Tom felt his patience strain from exhaustion and wished that Kate had not just insulted the Lieutenant's manhood while Mike tried vainly not to laugh at the incredulous situation.

"So may I have a knife please" she politely demanded as she held out a hand to Mike and as she did; she accidentally leaned a little too heavily on the door involuntarily closing it. Mike's heart horribly skipped a beat as he immediately placed a hand on the door and pushed it back before the door could come even close to her arm and broke it.

"I'm not giving you my knife" Mike told her as he realised he was now holding the door open as it was a little heavier than it should be. She pulled her hand back and pressed her forehead to the edge of the door giving a sigh before she looked at him.

"Well, I can't get out of these clothes by myself. So if you won't give me your knife then could you come in here and get me out of my clothes?" she asked Mike in a slightly frustrated manner, he was sure it raised a few eyebrows if he did go in there and Mike was incredibly tempted to take her offer up but before he could pretend to be disinterested Rachel finally showed up.

"I was paged" she said a little breathless as she moved past Lt Green, her eyes zoomed straight to Kate and relief washed over her features. "Kate, how did you get up here?" Rachel asked Kate as Tom moved out of the way to let her past.

"Sheer perseverance and whatever you or Doc Rios gave me for the pain." Kate told her with an amused smile, she shifted slightly and grimaced in pain as she gave up holding the door altogether and disappeared behind it. But Mike held it open, obviously the pain killers were wearing off and he wondered how long she would remain on her feet.

"Rios sedated you. You should still be resting in the infirmary" Rachel chastised her as she tried to look around the door. Kate moved into the small gap and Mike saw she was thankfully fully dressed in hospital scrubs; clutching her right arm by the elbow which was a mottled dark blue and red colour. It was ugly and painful to see her so battered.

"I was in the morgue which isn't a funny joke" Kate told her looking upset and a little angry again about what she thought had happened. Mike wished it was just the two of them as he would have ordered Green to get lost and gone inside the shower room and comfort Kate.

"No, it was the infirmary" Rachel assured her.

"It was dark, I was covered in frozen gel packs, the room was freezing cold and there was a dead body there in the main table ready to be carved up. That is my definition of a morgue. Now can I please have help so I can have a shower?" Kate asked them as she teetered on her feet before leaning against the door frame to support herself.

"Seriously, you're in the men's shower!" Lt Green informed her incredulously as the man wanted to get back to clothes and gear he left in there. Kate turned her head and gave him an icy glare.

"Oh I didn't realise that a pecker was prerequisite to operate a men's shower. Maybe if you tell where the slot is that I have to insert my pinky finger into to imi-" Kate started in a sarcastic manner but Tom cut her off before she could rant further.

"Enough!" Tom told Kate, he looked to Mike who pulled out his leatherman and handed it to Rachel. "Dr Scott could you please do us all a favour and help Lassiter get cleaned up and out of the shower room as quickly as possible" Tom said with as much patience as he could muster.

"Of course" Rachel said taking the leatherman. Kate moved away from the doorway to allow Rachel in as Mike pushed the door open wider. Rachel stepped in and gave Kate a cursory look before she said "I will require a med kit and an arm sling. I would be grateful if someone could retrieve those items for me" Rachel told them as she held onto the door.

"I'll go" Mike said volunteering himself as he didn't have the patience to stand by the door and do nothing. Rachel nodded and then pulled the door closed. Mike walked away and Tom looked to Lt. Green who was still standing in a towel.

"Go put some clothes on" Tom told Green before he leaned against the wall. He didn't want to leave just in case Rachel needed his help though he hoped whatever Kate was juiced on would at least help her through.

* * *

"I'll take the knife" Kate said as she used her forearm of her left arm to support her right as she held out a hand to Rachel. She was slowly fading out of a warm and fuzzy drug induced state into one of pain and exhaustion as her right arm was beginning to throb painfully. Correction, her whole body was aching but her arm and her rubs were the worst.

"I'll handle the knife when I find it" Rachel said as she looked at the leatherman like it were a rubik's cube. Kate would have been amused if she wasn't ready to fall to pieces. She shuffled to the bench in the room and slowly sat down. She gave sigh in discomfort as her body hated her.

"You're pissed off at me" Kate stated as she watched Rachel.

"I'm concerned for you and you shouldn't be holding sharp objects in your state" Rachel said slightly distracted as she pulled the leatherman open and looked at all the options she had at her disposal. She wondered why she had never owned one as it looked like a rather useful multiple purpose tool.

"If it helps the drugs are wearing off. So I'm clear headed and starting to hurt so could we get this over with and berate me later?" Kate asked her, Kate really wanted a proper bed to lay down on in a proper sized room as she was sick of waking up in cramped quarters, sick of being surrounded by the cold metal and the rocking motion. The fact that she had woken up in a dark cold room alone where Cossetti's remains were had left her in a dark and slightly disturbed head space.

"If you had stayed in the infirmary-" Rachel started to say but Kate cut her off.

"It was the morgue. Cossetti was in there, dead lying on the main table. Did I mention I was practically covered in frozen gel packs as if you were all trying to keep fresh?" Kate asked as Rachel gave a sigh as she sat down on the bench beside her and placed the Leatherman on the bench so as to give Kate her full attention.

"The gel packs were for your bruises and your arm which might be broken. Something Rios and I wanted to ascertain and attend to properly before you decided to get up and go wandering" Rachel said as she looked at Kate's arm, she reached out and gently probed the area which involuntarily made Kate make slightly whimpering noises of pain.

"It's not broken, I was able to move my arm and fingers last night right after I injured it" Kate told as she went from whimpering pathetic noises to hissing as Rachel was now gently lifting her arm but to Kate it felt like she was trying to rip said arm off.

"Being able to move your arm doesn't mean that it's not fractured as it could be a hairline fracture. How did you injure your arm?" Rachel asked her in a analytical manner.

"I was slammed into a wardrobe or maybe I was thrown into a wardrobe. It's all a little fuzzy" Kate said as Rachel slowly bent her arm straight. "Ow that fucking hurts" Kate griped making a face as her body screamed with pain. Hell, she wanted to scream just to relieve the pain but pressed her lips into a thin line to stop herself. Instead a muffled groan of pain escaped her.

"On a scale of 1 to ten?" Rachel asked her.

"23 and I might cry or pass out in a minute if you continue touching it" Kate told her. Rachel gave a wry smile as she was sure if the pain were a '23' Kate would be screaming her head off but it didn't stop Rachel from sympathising. She could see Kate was in a lot of pain, her whole body was tense and her brow covered in a sheen of sweat, her skin had dropped a couple of shades of colour which made Rachel concerned that she might pass out. But then if Kate did pass out it would help Rachel and the others take care of her much easier.

"You have an extremely high pain threshold" Rachel remarked as she gently probed Kate's upper arm and shoulder to make sure all the joints and bones were where they supposed to be. But it was hard to judge as the arm was still swollen even after all the ice and heat they had applied to the area.

"Or I was taught from early age to show emotions was weak. Damn it can you stop?" Kate asked her as she tried to school her breathing and remain conscious as she felt woozy and stars streaked through her vision. She hoped the medical examination was over as she wanted to have a shower and wash her hair. She needed to wash the Vyerni off her skin and hair as the stale smell of tobacco and vodka made her feel sick to her stomach.

"No yet, I have to make sure your bones are where they are supposed to be." Rachel told her.

"Oh ok, anything else?" Kate asked her in a dry and slightly uppity manner as she made Rachel sound like she was about to carve open her body and removed something vital without permission or anaesthesia.

"Yes, can you flex your fingers?" Rachel asked her in the same tone, she couldn't help but smile just a little at Kate's manner.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

* * *

"What do you think they are doing in there? I hear a lot of groaning" Tex said as he pressed his ear to the door. He'd been walking by to find Tom standing outside looking rather perturbed.

The Captain told him that Rachel and Kate were inside and he was making sure the women weren't interrupted while Commander Slattery went to get medical supplies. The door was closed thus he pressed his ear to it to listen in. So far all he heard were a lot muffled curse words, groaning and Rachel's haughty tone that she used on him when she told him that he needed to have his wounds disinfected. It was the cute 'don't be such a child' tone.

"It's not what you're hoping" Tom told him as he couldn't believe he was standing guard at the Men's shower.

He was the Captain, he had better things to do than stand around like eat and get some sleep or catch up on what happened on the ship while he was gone. But no, he was making sure that Rachel and Kate were disturbed. Something told him if anyone caught Kate naked in a shower; Mike would go ballistic even though his XO would claim there was nothing inappropriate between himself and Kate.

But Tom didn't miss the undercurrent of tension going on between Kate and Mike earlier. Nor did he miss the hostility in Tex's demeanour just now as Mike returned with a medkit and a bottle of water in hand.

"I can take those" Tex told Mike, his tone was casual and helpful but his demeanour screamed 'back the fuck off'. Mike narrowed his eyes at Tex as he wondered what bug crawled up the man's arse. But as per usual he couldn't show deference to Kate without Tom sticking his nose in his personal life. So he reluctantly held out the bag and bottle of water to the man.

"Tell them to hurry up" Tom told Tex as he opened the door. "I have a ship to run and I'm not going to waste my afternoon standing here guarding the men's shower" Tom said to Tex, he could allow some impropriety for Tex to go into the room as the man was not in the Navy or under his command in an official manner. That and he knew it would give Tex a chance to garner some good will with Rachel.

"You two can go on with your day. I got this covered" Tex assured them, there was something slightly patronising about the lilt of his accent that rubbed Mike the wrong way. Mike was ready to remind the man of his place; the one that gave him no right to tell Mike what to do or give him the power to dismiss him. But before he could; his radio crackled to life and his duty to ship took precedence. He stepped back and listened to the issue at hand before he acknowledged he had heard the message and then looked to Tom.

"I gotta go, do you want me to call a crewman to takeover here?" Mike asked him, Tom shook his head as he had been on his way to speak with Dr Scott.

"No, I'll talk to Doctor Scott after she's done with Lassiter. Then I'm going hit the rack for a few hours" Tom informed him. Mike rose a questioning eyebrow as he seriously doubted Tom would sleep until late tonight as they hadn't mapped out the next few days.

* * *

"Incoming, put your clothes on or off if you're in the mood" Tex called out as he came into the room, his tone was amused and he sounded way too cheerful for Kate's current state.

"Our clothes are on" Kate told him, she had lost her sense of humour when she hadn't been able to wash her own hair. She hated being injured on the best of days but to have to rely on others to help her was painfully embarrassing. She didn't like being treated like an invalid, she also hated the fact that it was her second shower with an audience. Sure Rachel was a hundred times better than some Russian soldier but still Kate wished she could have been alone. Sadly with her injuries it was not an option.

"I've come bearing gifts" Tex said in a cheerful tone as he carried in a medium sized duffel bag. Kate sat on the bench dressed in her 3/4 yoga tights and front zip sports bra. Getting said bra on had been a real pain but then she was not going to be braless unless it was in the privacy of her quarters. She just wished she had packed a button down shirt as all she had were tank tops and t-shirts. She held onto her arm and vainly trying to sit up straight but it was incredibly painful to do so but then lying down wasn't an option either. What she needed was energy and painkillers as she was so exhausted and in pain that it felt like her muscles were barely holding onto her bones.

"Thank you" Rachel said to Tex as she took the bag from him. Tex's smile dropped as he looked at Kate and winced as he saw the bruises which were now even more pronounced as they had time to mature thanks to the scrubbing and hot water that Kate had refused to give up on. She'd even had a 6 minute shower to make sure she had completely rinsed off the Vyerni and the blood. But then she had a feeling that foregoing her shower tomorrow wasn't going to be a hardship.

"Geez Red, you look like hell" Tex said as he looked at her with deep concern and pity which made her feel really angry as he thought she was a victim. She didn't know why but she half expected him to try and hug her in that instance and she knew if he did she would punch him just to prove she refused to be coddled.

"You're no panty dropper yourself" Kate replied snidely as she went to the bench and straddled it so Rachel could apply fresh dressings to her deeper cuts and abrasions. Rachel unzipped the bag and pulled out the arm sling first and helped Kate into it, securing her right arm before she moved back to back to pull out surgical gloves, antiseptic and fresh gauze and tape.

"So how are you?" he asked Kate, she knew he was concerned and she appreciated it but right now she wanted as little interaction with people until she was in less pain and a better mood.

"Lucid" Kate replied dryly as she felt the question was rather a stupid one given the situation. She wished he would just leave and give her some peace and quiet. If you wanted that you should have gone to the women's showers Kate silently chastised herself but then she could barely remember how she got from the infirmary to her quarters up to where they were. She remembered waking up, feeling nauseous at the smell of cigarettes, vodka, antiseptic, blood and death. The urge to just purge herself of it all was enough to get her out of there but the in between times were a little fuzzy.

"You got some nasty injuries" Tex said as Rachel started to apply fresh dressing to her scrapped up flank which happened when she had been slammed into the wardrobe. She gave him a glowering look as he moved to sit down on the bench in front of her.

"Nice to see you still retain your ability to state the obvious" Kate told him darkly, she had meant to go for sarcastic but her mood was not allowing her to go there. She winced as Rachel applied a disinfectant cream, the smell of it made her stomach roll in bad way.

"Someone wake up on the wrong side of the ship?" Tex said as he went to touch her but brought his hand back when she flinched at the movement and immediately winced in pain from her body tensing. He looked upset at her but she couldn't help her reactions as they were reflexive in nature.

"You could say that" Kate told him as her heart hammered, just the reaction to him trying to touch her revved her fried nerves. "I'm also hungover" she told him, he gave a empathetic smile as he rose to his feet and moved to the bag on the floor by Rachel's feet.

"Lucky for you Commander Slattery had the foresight to pack this for you" he said as pulled out a bottle of red coloured water. He popped the lid open and handed it to her, she knew she should have been grateful to be saved the trouble but it only rankled her as it reiterated how helpless she was with her busted arm.

She took the bottle from him and made a face as the water smelt noxiously of artificial berries flavour. Not that she minded but she appreciated the extra measure Mike had gone with the supplies. He always remembered the small details. Like how given the 'party night' she had, she would need to up her electrolytes. She took a small tentative sip and winced at how strong the flavour was and because Rachel had pressed a little too hard against her bruised side.

"What did they do to you?" Tex asked her. She looked at him, the man who kept all his darkest secrets and past locked up tight and deflect every emotional situation with humour; ask her a blatantly personal question.

"What do you think? I got into a few fights. It's no big deal" Kate told him casually, she would have shrugged but really didn't want the movement to distract Rachel from finishing her work.

"Did they-" Tex started ask but Rachel and Kate cut him off.

"Tex!" Rachel said in a chastising tone.

"That is none of your business" Kate said at the exact same time in a chilling tone. Tex reared back at Kate's words.

"None of my business? Commander Slattery traded you for me and the Captain." Tex said affronted as he had obviously been stewing over that little fact for a long while considering the anger in his demeanour.

"I made the decision to go not the Commander" Kate told him. She wanted to explain to him how she had lost her value to the Nathan James while the crew still needed their Captain and him. That she had willing gone even if there hadn't been a rescue plan even if it meant giving up a chance at a future with Mike because she was pragmatic enough to see the decision through but Tex didn't give her a chance.

"Look at you, look at what the Russians did to you-"

"I don't need a fucking recap on the past 48 hours. I know what happened and you should be grateful that I was willing to go because we both know you're more important to the crew and ship" Kate told him darkly.

"It hasn't even been 48 hours, you're so fucked up by it. They nearly killed you and you're going to defend Commander Slattery cause he gave you a some bullshit speech about making a sacrifice for the many crap?" Tex asked scathingly.

"Tex, I'm not going argue with you when we both know you Americans can become impassioned over life and death situations" Kate said in a tired tone, she even rolled her eyes because she didn't want the drama and possible deep and meaningful moment to occur.

"Well excuse me if I'm not capable of being dispassionate and detached about my best friend's wife being beaten to near death because she thinks she's worthless in comparison to a dumb grunt like me" Tex told her, she could see his anger and his pain but she couldn't connect with him or find common ground with him to just end the argument. Maybe it was that she wanted to goad him so he wouldn't act as though she were a fragile piece of glass. She wanted him to pretend it was nothing and move on.

"You're excused nd welcome" Kate told him sarcastically knowing she was goading him. She knew if she were a man Tex would have punched her, she saw his hands make fists as he tried to remain calm.

"That's cute, you give the Russians that kind of attitude?" he asked reflecting her own sarcastic manner, his words sliced through her as they just brought up memories of Ruskov talking about Jack. Reminding her that she didn't ever know the man she was married to, that he had effectively compartmentalised his world. She had no clue what she had meant to him,_ not much considering he was happy to have his company use you as a guinea pig..._ Kate thought grimly and now his best friend was sitting here berating her for being useful, for being a soldier and trying to help out. She goaded him to be hurtful because frankly she didn't want his pity.

"Maybe you should be grateful or at least appreciate that I and Dr Scott were willing to do for you and this ship instead of treating me as if I'm a idiot incapable of making my own decisions. I wasn't exploited by Commander Slattery and to think I could be swayed by a speech of martyrdom would be insult to myself and the man in question. It was just pragmatic and simple" Kate told him, Tex opened his mouth to argue but Kate spoke first "No, you and I are not having this argument until I've both gotten more than a few hours sleep and pancakes" she told him.

"Well then I guess we'll be waiting a while to finish the conversation as you missed out on the pancakes and it's not on the normal menu rotation" Tex told her in a snide manner.

"Well then perhaps that's a good thing because I'm exhausted and in a foul mood." Kate took a breath and then said "So I appreciate you bringing in the supplies but I would like to be left alone with Rachel now" she told him. Tex looked at her for a moment as if trying to figure out if he knew her. They rarely had fights except when he hit her tender spots like he was now.

The last fight they had had was when Kate talked about going back to Australia and he had suggested that making big decisions weren't in her best interest whilst she was grieving. She couldn't remember all the words but she remembered the trigger point being 'What would Jack think?' and her reply hadn't been exactly complimentary.

"Ok, I'm gone but when you want to talk. You'll know where to find me" Tex told her as he threw up his hands and got to his feet. Kate watched as he left the shower room and once she heard the door to the room close she dropped her head down.

"Fuck" Kate cursed, she looked over her shoulder to Rachel who had stopped what she had been doing obviously stunned by the heated exchange. "Sorry about that" Kate told her.

"He cares about you" Rachel replied as she pulled up the loose tank top Kate had brought to put over her crop top as she didn't have a button down shirt and all her other clothing looked like they would be more of a pain to get in and out of.

"Like the annoying older brother I never asked for" Kate said as tears filled her eyes as she hated how small, pathetic and weak she felt. Rachel helped her slowly eased on the tank onto her right shoulder before her left.

"I think he's more angry at himself than you" Rachel said as she pulled out the arm sling and proceeded to Help Kate into it. Kate winced from the movement and closed her eyes. The blocking out of the light and the heaviness of her closed eyelids allowed her a moment of relaxation. Something her body was crying out for as she felt herself lean to the left she opened her eyes and rubbed her face with her left hand.

"I need to lie down" Kate told her. Rachel was about to agree with her when they heard the sounds of the door opening.

"Doc, a moment outside please?" Tom called from the door. Rachel looked at Kate.

"I'll be ok" Kate assured her.

"I'll be back in a moment. Just stay here and keep drinking the hydrolytes. It'll help" Rachel told Kate, she quickly packed up the mess she had made into a bio-hazard bag and packed up the rest of what was left into duffel bag before she left the room.

* * *

"Doc" Tom said as Rachel came to the door, she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her as she didn't want her voice to carry into the room.

"Everything alright?" Tom asked her as he wondered why she had closed the door.

"I believe it will be. I know it would be an inconvenience but I don't think Kate has the energy to make it back to the Infirmary let alone our quarters without assistance" Rachel said.

"She should be in the infirmary" Tom told her in a tone that made Rachel feel as if she were a small child who needed to be reminded every five minutes not to do something. She really needed to rest not fall into an argument with Tom.

"Yes, I agree and only because she's unable to be independent but with respect we have no idea what kind of trauma Kate has been through. To put her back into the Infirmary which is doubling as a morgue would not be healthy for her. She wants to escape all reminders of the Vyerni and I don't blame her, I feel the same-" Rachel stopped as she wasn't sure what to say or perhaps she said too much as she felt raw and slightly exposed for confiding what little she just had about herself.

"You think she's going to just keep walking out of the infirmary?" Tom asked giving her leeway to deflect the attention off herself and her own issues that she was dealing with due to what happened on the Vyerni. She hadn't experienced what Kate went through but her own time had been traumatic in it's own right.

"I believe so yes which will not be conducive to her recovery or the ship if we keep losing her around the place" Rachel said.

"So you want me to carry her to your quarters?" Tom asked not sure where they were going with this.

"I was hoping you'd allow her the privacy of your stateroom or the commanders as they are considerably closer and I believe Kate could manage to make it there with little to no assistance" Rachel suggested, she was hoping he would say yes because she knew right now Kate was in a fragile state but if she knew anything about Kate. The woman hated being considered a victim and to be carried around would make her appear weak. The fight with Tex, having to be helped in the shower had shown Rachel how hard it was for Kate to give up her independence. Rachel would have felt the same if their roles had been reversed.

"You want me to give up my room?" Tam asked her in a sceptical tone as to him; Rachel was definitely pushing the friendship.

"Only your lounge for a few hours or perhaps you could ask Commander Slattery to accommodate her for a few hours. I'm not asking you to tend her every whim, I'm asking to allow her some dignity in walking out of this room on her own accord" Rachel told him.

* * *

"Have a seat" Tom told Kate as he guided her by her left elbow into his stateroom. He was seriously tempted putting her in Mike's stateroom but knew it would just be asking for trouble. He wanted to trust that Mike would be honourable towards Kate but he wasn't sure he could say the same for Kate in regards to Mike. It was just easier to make do with putting Kate on his lounge for a couple of hours.

"Can't we talk when I'm not in such a miserable state?" Kate asked as she sat down on the lounge. Rachel had already dosed her with some pain meds or so Kate assumed was in the syringe as she was back to a nice warm fuzzy place where she was ready to sleep but Tom apparently lacked the patience to allow Kate to do so otherwise he wouldn't have practically dragged her to his office.

"Yeah, we're not going to talk" he told her, Kate reared back at him and gave him an odd look. "We're not going to be doing that either" he assured as he could only assume that she thought he was going to try and get fresh with her. Her immediately relief at his assurance was amusing to watch as she leaned against the back of the lounge.

"I was worried for a moment because I'm not high enough to consider that less than savoury prospect" she told him, she could see that he wasn't impressed with the fact that she wasn't interested in him.

"I should be insulted" Tom told her and she gave an amused smile.

"Sorry, you don't float my boat" she said a chuckle escaped her as she realised the poor choice of words. Tom shook his head at her obviously she had bruised his ego but she knew better than to stir him further. "Ok then why was I directed here; if we're not going to talk or well let's be honest you interrogate me" she said him.

"You're here, so that you can stop making yourself into O.H &amp; S issue for my ship and crew" Tom told her.

"You lost me" Kate told him with a frown.

"No, Rios did and I'll be having words with him. Right now, you are going to lie down and get some sleep" Tom informed her.

"Is that an order?" Kate asked.

"No and before I forget where's the Commander's leatherman?" Tom asked her.

"What?" Kate asked feigning ignorance.

"I have two kids who think that face works on me. It doesn't. Hand it over" He told her, holding out his hand waiting for her to give him back the leatherman she swiped from Rachel. He stared down at her in a disapproving manner and she pursed her lips before she pulled it out of her arm sling and placed it in his hand.

"Happy?" She asked him as he pocketed the leatherman.

"Estatic, let me get you a blanket" Tom told her as he moved into his quarters and pulled out a spare blanket. When he came back into the main room Kate was lying on the lounge with her back flat and her legs bent as the lounge was not long enough to accommodate her height.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Kate asked.

"This isn't me being nice" Tom told her as he draped the blanket over her legs and the top half of her body before he pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Really? you could have turfed me back into the infirmary" Kate said as she used her left hand to pull the blanket a little higher over her arms.

"Would you stay there?" he asked her.

"No" she answered honestly. Her words slurred together as her body was slowly succumbing to exhaustion. She wished Tom would just shut up and leave her to sleep but instead he pulled up a chair and wanted to talk.

"And why wouldn't you stay?" he asked her, she could see that he was frustrated by her like she were an errant child and in some manner she truly was an unruly child especially to him. He was used to everyone being completely obedient and his ship running smoothly and here she was mucking it up and getting into trouble just because she couldn't conform. She couldn't just lie in the infirmary like a good little girl because of her own issues.

"If I were a guy, you'd be patting me on the back and saying 'good job'. Telling me to rub engine grease into my wounds. Not making me lie down in your stateroom looking at me like I'm a victim but I'm a woman so it's different right?" Kate asked him, her tone was slightly scathing but she couldn't help it. She saw the guilt and the pity in his expression like she had in Tex. She just wanted to close her eyes and go to sleep but she had stupidly started a conversation when she should of just feigned sleep when he went for a blanket.

"Not exactly, but you have to look it from our view. I had no idea you were on the Vyerni and when our paths crossed; I was shocked and angry. Neither you or Dr Scott should have been there or put into the situation where you would have to fight for your lives" Tom told her as he leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees.

"You think I'm traumatised because I had to kill a few men" Kate said closing her eyes wishing he would stop talking as she didn't want her last thoughts before sleep to be about the Vyerni.

"I'm traumatised by what I saw" Tom told her, Kate opened her eyes and saw that he was deeply worried. She didn't blame him. She had been a mess and she had a feeling Tom had never witnessed a woman kill a man in close quarters with a knife. Of course he missed the 'action' part but he did see the end result which spoke loudly to her conviction to stay alive and capabilities.

"Don't worry, you're safe from me." Kate assured him before she drifted to sleep.


	30. Chapter 30

_A/N: Big thank you for the reviews! as always the keep my motivated and let's me know I'm going in the right direction :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 30**

* * *

"Captain-" Mike started as he came into Tom's stateroom but stopped as he saw Kate stretched out on the lounge.

"Come in, she apparently sleeps like the dead" Tom said which was true, Kate's breathing had evened out and slowed to the point that Tom had nearly thought she had died as she had barely moved in the last couple of hours. Not to mention he had made a lot of noise and she hadn't stirred once. Whatever Rachel gave the woman had knocked her out good. At least Kate didn't snore, it was the only blessing out of the situation.

"What's she doing here?" Mike asked as he closed the door behind him but he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her sleeping form. Her bare feet stuck out from under the blanket and off the edge as the lounge wasn't long enough to accommodate her. The blanket however was pulled right up to just below her eyes, it would have been adorable if she wasn't injured and passed out on drugs. A part of him ached to put his work aside and pick her up off the lounge and take her to his stateroom so she could lie down properly as that lounge was not comfortable to sit on let alone try to sleep on. But his brain mocked him as it reminded him that it wasn't appropriate.

"I've asked myself that many times in the last couple of hours" Tom said as he knew he had swayed purely by Rachel's bleeding heart routine. For a married man he should be immune to that routine from other women but he wasn't.

"Ok, you going to wake her up for dinner or just leave her there sleeping?" Mike asked in a low voice as he really didn't want to wake Kate up. The woman like everyone else earned her right to sleep.

"Is it dinner time already?" Tom asked speaking in normal level, he figured...no hoped Kate would wake up and leave so he could have the stateroom back. So far no amount of noise disturbed her. He looked at the clock on the wall and rubbed a hand down his face exhausted as he hadn't managed to get anything done and he had missed lunch.

"Yeah" Mike said as his eyes couldn't stop from drifting to Kate. He had spent the last few hours with Jeter on the bridge double checking and triple checking that everything was in order for the funeral service and also for their next move. Be it going back to Nicaragua or back to the states. He hoped for the latter.

"Do we need to have that talk?" Tom asked him clearly knowing what Mike was thinking which annoyed the hell out of Mike as it seemed like all Tom could do is tell him how he wasn't doing his job properly.

"What talk?" Mike asked Tom.

"The one about her" Tom said gesturing to Kate.

"You'll have to clarify" Mike said dryly as he assumed the talk would be more about the ship than Kate. The way Tom

"I know this is complicated-" Tom started but Mike cut him off as he felt a long winded talk that would end in some pep talk about Marriage and staying true to his vows. Something Mike didn't need nor want to hear as he knew all of it. He also didn't think he needed said talk as his personal life was none of Tom's business.

"There's nothing complicated about it" Mike told him, hoping the man would let the subject drop and trust him to be an adult. Even if he and Kate shared a few kisses and agreed to what Tom would consider 'inappropriate' behaviour for an Officer of the Navy but to Mike; they were living in a very different time and he felt once his duty was finished on the ship and they disbanded the crew. Then his personal life was his own to do what he pleased.

"Mike-" Tom started but Mike cut him off.

"Have I acted inappropriately?" Mike asked Tom because he didn't like that Tom felt the need to 'talk' about his relationship with Kate especially given that he hadn't openly flaunted it to the crew nor had he acted inappropriately. At least not in Mike's opinion, sure they kissed a couple of times but it wasn't like he ditched his duties or took her off to some quiet nook like they were teenagers.

"Not yet" Tom said and Mike reared back at the insult. Mike wanted to defend his reputation but Tom didn't give him a chance as he continued to talk. "We're the leaders on this ship. We set the standard. We already had issue of fraternisation-" Tom started what mike was sure was a patronising speech as Mike knew the rules and regulations just as Tom did. So he cut Tom off.

"I know, I've been here for it all" Mike reminded him in a mock patronising tone because Tom made it seem like perhaps Mike had been asleep the whole time. "I also know my duties and my role on this ship. I allowed the exchange of her life for yours and she didn't even argue with me or beg to stay on the Nathan James-"

"Which was in direct violation of my last orders. You were supposed to take the ship and continue the mission" Tom told him scathingly. Anger flashed in his friend's eyes as Mike realised that Tom was picking the faults in him so Tom wouldn't have to look at himself. It was rich given the poor behaviour Tom was displaying.

"Your last orders were bullshit. You knew I wouldn't follow them so don't get high and mighty about that with me because I ruined your chance to die a hero" Mike told him, glad he was given the opportunity to say so.

"Excuse me?" Tom asked incredulously as Mike hit the proverbial nail on the head. Mike narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"You're the Captain of this ship and yet you go off the ship running point on practically every dangerous missions-" Mike started in a tirade that he had been bottling up only for Tom to talk over him.

"It's Captain's Prerogative" Tom told him like it was an reasonable excuse. Mike looked at him incredulously.

"Where you get to play hero and be reckless with your life? To prove what? that you're the same as all the grunts below you?" Mike asked dryly. He was about to continue to tell Tom that leaders with their command experience were now needed more than ever. That Tom needed to pull his head out of his ass and realise that he was glue holding the ship's crew together and without him around the chances for the mission's success were pretty low as Morale would have taken a nose dive if they hadn't rescued his and Tex's ungrateful asses. But he didn't, he stopped as Kate murmured something incoherent drawing his attention from Tom and putting a pause on the argument.

He and Tom looked in her direction to see Kate open her eyes and pull the blanket from her face.

"What's with all the shouting?" Kate said her speech was slurred with exhaustion and whatever Doctor Scott gave her for the pain. She turned her head and looked at them. She tried to push herself upright but she couldn't get the leverage she needed.

"We weren't shouting" Mike told her, though he was sorely tempted to shout all of his grievances at Tom until he was blue in the face but he knew it was a waste of time. So instead he moved to Kate and gently helped her sit upright. At least then he had an excuse to touch her without it being interpreted into him 'breaking the rules'.

"Well, you should re-evaluate the noise level of your 'indoor' voices. Wouldn't want the kids to think Mummy and Daddy are fighting" Kate told them as she closed her eyes, Mike swore she had dozed off again but after a few seconds she opened them again and looked around the room slightly dazed. "What's the time?" she asked.

"Nearly dinner time" Mike told her as he moved to sit beside her on the lounge, Tom be damned as Mike helped pull the blanket so it was comfortably around her shoulders. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pleasure as Kate accepted his help especially since he knew from talking with Dr Scott that Kate was having a hard time. That and Kate had a fight with Tex which explained why the man had a dark cloud hanging about him. Dr Scott only told him because she felt he needed to be warned but he fully expecting a confrontation with the man every since he shot him a dark look after boarding back onto the Nathan James that morning.

"Hmm, ok." she said not believing them as there was a rather uncomfortable tension in the room "So how did I get here?" Kate asked them. She wished she were alone with Mike as she really just wanted to lean onto him and fall asleep. It was funny, she despised Tex trying to comfort her but with Mike she just wanted to use the man the pillow. It was probably that she knew he wouldn't say a word, he would just let her be. But she didn't have the luxury so instead she vainly tried to rub away the exhaustion with her left hand.

"You don't remember?" Tom asked her, Kate looked up from her hand at him and shook her head. Everything felt fuzzy to her, her body, her brain, her memories. She felt exhausted and completely washed out, though pain free which was pleasant. Well, pain free wasn't the right word for it. She could feel her aches and pains but they were considerably duller now than before Rachel gave her more drugs. She had a feeling she was not going to enjoy the withdraw of the meds when it came time.

"Not exactly, did I fall asleep while we were talking?" She asked him. Suddenly feeling mortified at the knowledge that she might have dozed off like an old woman in the middle of conversation.

"No" Tom told her. Kate felt only slightly relieved at the knowledge. As she remembered most of what happened in the men's shower but after Rachel injected her with more pain meds well the memory got spotty. She just hoped she didn't make an ass of herself or snore. In fact the thought of sleeping sounded more and more appealing than putting herself in whatever was Tom and Mike's problem. But somehow she felt like it was about her and the tension in the room was incredibly hostile like someone was only a couple of minutes away from blowing up.

"Ok, I should go and leave you two to your work" Kate said, the blanket slipped from her left shoulder as she gripped Mike's forearm for support. He wordlessly helped her to her feet and steadied her as the room swam. He pulled the blanket over her shoulder once again, she gave him a closed lip smile in gratitude as she gripped the two edges together. "I'm taking the blanket" she told Tom.

"By all means" Tom replied as he pulled open the door for her. Kate gave him a wry smile as she obviously overstayed her welcome in the Captain's state room. She slowly walked to the door, her vision was all over the place and her legs felt heavy. She mentally told herself that she was only a short distance from her quarters or the wardroom but to her body it might as well be a hundred kilometres away. But she moved forward until she was outside of the room, she half expected to be knocked over by the brush of wind when Tom closed the door but it didn't happen.

Tom and Mike exchanged looks as it was just bad decorum to allow Kate to roam the ship looking like she did. Her hair mussed, wrapped in a blanket bruised to high hell and looking lost. All the worst case scenarios flashed through their minds of her falling down a hatch or being knocked over if they went to 'General Quarters'.

Tom felt a mix of annoyance and concern as he'd rather have the woman in the infirmary and he just wasn't sure whether he should be suspicious of her or just pity her for the situation she was in. He wanted to trust she was innocent but with everything that somehow linked back to her in-law's family business it was hard to believe her hands were completely clean. The fact that Ruskov knew she was on the ship made him wonder if Quincy was the only spy on the Nathan James. Something he didn't want to think about.

Mike on the other hand was genuinely concerned for her. Tom could see his friend's expression, the unveiled emotions playing across his features as he internally waged between the man who wanted to take care of the woman he cared about and not appearing to overstep his grounds as an officer and gentleman in the US Navy. What concerned Tom was that Mike wasn't normally so transparent with his thoughts or emotions like he was right now and Tom had to wondered how much leeway he was going to give the situation.

"Where you going?" Tom asked in an exhausted tone Kate as the woman looked like she was having difficulties trying to have one coherent thought.

"Ah" Kate drawled buying herself time to think about it. "Wardroom?" she offered but she didn't sound sure of herself which normally would have been amusing but Tom couldn't muster up his sense of humour to enjoy it. He looked to Mike with an exhausted nod of his head as if to say 'Take her away' or so he hoped it was interpreted as such as Tom really didn't want to say it out loud.

"I'll escort you" Mike said to Kate as he stepped out of the room to join her.

"Commander, we'll continue our conversation after you've escorted Lassiter to the wardroom and settled her in" Tom told Mike,

"Yes, Sir" Mike said.

* * *

"Wow, what did I do?" Kate asked as Tom looked entirely fed up as he closed the door to his stateroom.

"Nothing" Mike told her, Kate gave him a look of scepticism.

"The Captain and you were having an argument-" Kate said as Mike caught her by the left elbow to gently support and guide her down the hallway. Kate knew if she wasn't injured Mike probably wouldn't even touch her. She wondered if maybe it was an OHS issue in their manual because she was sure it looked 'intimate' for him to be walking so close to her.

"You're not that special" Mike drawled in a dry manner.

"Nice to know" Kate remarked feeling a little sore at his remark. She knew she didn't want to be a bone of contention in Mike and Tom's friendship but his choice of words could have been better.

"Where are your boots?" Mike asked her. Kate gave a sigh as stars and speckles dusted through her vision. She really wished the Wardroom was next 5 steps away but the reality was that it was at least 20 steps away. It was a lot of ground to cover and her body was not cooperating.

"On the Vyerni and before you ask; everything I was wearing when I left the ship yesterday is on the Vyerni. So I'd appreciate it if we didn't-" Kate stopped and leaned her head against the wall for a moment for support. She closed her eyes and will her vision to return to her, willed herself to summon the energy to just continue walking as she was not going to give into her pity party in the hallways for everyone to see.

"Lassiter-" Mike started but hearing that name filled her with disgust and anger of husband's secrets and Evan's games. He may have saved her by putting her on the ship but at what cost as she now carried the burden of his crimes. He painted a target on her back and died leaving her to fend on her own. She was supposed to be married and settling down with the mockery of perfect life. Instead she was a widow trapped on a ship with very little allies forced to fend for herself and pretend everything would turn out fine. That in some weird twist of fate she would actually be rewarded for once. Her throat tightened and ached as her eyes filled with tears.

"I wish you'd not call me by that name any more" Kate told Mike in a low calm voice as tears slid down her face. It didn't take a genius to know Kate was in pain and not just the physical kind. He also didn't miss the undertone of anger in her tone and wondered not for the first what had actually happened on the Vyerni.

"Then I won't" Mike said to her, he looked around the empty hallway and moved in closer. Placing his hands on the wall framing her body as he leaned in close. "You sure you want to go to the wardroom?" he asked, he kept his tone casual as if to say the wardroom would be a boring choice as he knew Kate hated being babied. When she didn't answer he leaned closer "I got a better idea" he said to her.

"I hope it's closer than the wardroom" Kate grumbled as she really wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. She turned and looked at Mike who tilted his head in a 'let's go' manner as he held out his hand to her. Kate looked at the hand for a moment before she took it. He gently pulled on the arm and Kate followed as he released her hand and walked behind her gently guiding her back the way they came.

They stopped in front of his state room and Kate quirked a questioning eyebrow at him as he opened the door and gestured for her to go first.

"This idea..." She drawled insinuating that she thought he was thinking about sex. He gave an amused smile and shook his head as he knew exactly what she was thinking and really was in disbelief that in her condition she could even want to think about sex let alone look excited at the prospect.

"Is not that idea" he assured her. Somehow his reassurance was slightly disappointing even though the idea of sex while she was injured had about as much appeal as getting a root canal. She still wouldn't have minded it crossing his mind as she kind of felt like everyone was placating her. "Not today anyway" he added. Kate warmed as her earlier thoughts were forgotten.

She stepped into his stateroom and turned to face him as he came in behind and closed the door. Once the door was secure, he turned to face her. If this had been a movie Kate would have expected Mike to grab her into a bone crushing hug and kiss her senselessly but it wasn't. Part of her was grateful as a hug right now seemed like yet another bad idea. Since it wasn't an option they just stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"The bed is in there" Mike said, he moved to the side door and pulled it open and gestured to the small space. "There's an ensuite behind the second door" he moved to door way and looked into the small space. It was just as advertised and immaculate. A neatly made up king single bed, small wardrobe and an door which led to an ensuite bathroom she could only assume was the size of a postage stamp given how cramped the naval ship's quarters were in general.

"Why am I here?" Kate asked, she knew it was a stupid question but she really wanted to him to tell her and because she knew if she didn't take direction of the conversation he'd most likely ask about the Vyerni. She didn't want them to have a fight or have him ask her the same questions Tex had. What she wanted was their bubble of ignorance where they just pretended to a certain extent everything was fine.

"So you can lay down and rest" he told her as he leaned against the other side of the door frame looking at her.

"You know I have bed and my own quarters" she told him.

"Top bunk you're sharing with Bertrise. I think you told Jeter you'd sleep during the day and let Bertrise have it in the night. So tell me how you planned to get in and out of that top bunk in your current state?" He asked her in a mockingly patient if somewhat patronising manner.

"I'd get a leg up to get in and as for getting out... I was thinking feet first might be the way to go as it's worked so well for me in the past" Kate told him sarcastically. He gave her a dour look that said he was not impressed with her response.

"Well, now you don't have to schedule who gets the bunk first. You got this bed all to yourself" he told her as moved towards her and lifted the blanket off of her shoulders. He tossed it onto the lounge in the main room before moving past her into the small bedroom. He looked so huge in the space that it was a little comical.

"And where are you going to sleep?" She asked as she watched him pull back the blanket and top sheet on the bed.

"I'll bunk in with Burk. Now lay down" He ordered her as he took her left hand and pulled her over to the bed. Kate made a derisive noise at the order as it was ridiculous but she acquiesced his order and moved to the bed.

"Why can't I bunk with Bur-" Kate stopped mid sentence as Mike helped her lay down on the mattress "Oh wow, this is a real mattress" she said as it was a genuine mattress with springs and cushions instead of being a plastic covered piece foam. She knew she shouldn't be surprised but having springs and a few centimetres of space between the bed frame and her body was heaven at the moment.

"One of the few luxuries of being XO" he informed her with an amused smile as he was pretty sure Kate was one second away from moaning in pleasure over a spring mattress. "You sure you don't want to enjoy it?" he asked her, a saucy smile curved on her lips and Mike felt his pulse kick up a notch as he knew that smile well enough to know what it meant.

"Is sex all you think about when you look at me?" he asked her incredulously. He lifted her legs into the bed for her and then pulled the top sheet and blanket over her, tucking her in so he could stop getting ideas. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at her, enjoying the serene smile as she shifted and settled into the bed.

"Do you really need me to answer that question?" Kate asked him as she quirked a suggestive eyebrow and smiled widely. Obviously the pain killers were still working given that the smile would have hurt given her bruised face.

"I don't like being sexually objectified. I have a brain and feelings" he told her in a mocking tone.

"Yeah, I know it's part of the package and sex makes me happy. Very happy" She told him.

"Well, the doc and Tom wouldn't approve" He told her.

"Does that mean it was on the table?"

"No, there will be no fraternising on the ship. I have-"

"A reputation and a standard of behaviour to uphold." Kate finished for him in a serious tone that said she understood and respected where he was coming from. But then she smiled at him and said "It's lucky you have a mattress to make up for the abstinence you're going to make me endure"

"Yes, I'm sure it will be a trying time for you" he said glibly.

"I may never leave this bed" she warned him as she ignored his glib comment.

"Well, I'd like it if you left the bed every once and awhile like use the shower and the other facilities available to you" Mike told her dryly.

"Of course, but wow" Kate marvelled as it was the most comfortable she had felt since returning to the Nathan James.

"It's not that great" Mike told her as he knew having a mattress was a luxury but she was acting like it was a 5 star hotel bed.

"I've been sleeping on bunk with a thin foam matt with my feet hanging off the edge of the frame for nearly 6 months. This is amazing" she told him as she didn't have the same issues in his bed. It was just long enough to accommodate her height and roomy. Mike chuckled and shook his head at her.

"Alright Goldilocks. Don't get too attached to it, this is temporary" he reminded her.

"Uh oh is someone regretting his decision giving up his bed?" Kate asked teasingly. Her eyes danced with humour. He knew they were ignoring the elephant in the room about her time on the Vyerni but right he was happy to leave the conversation until later because right now he just enjoyed her smile over the simplest of pleasures. There was time for pain and sadness later, but right now they both needed the illusion of happiness and normality. Or at least as close as they would get to it.

"No, but at some point we'll have to leave ship and I'm not carrying that mattress with us when we leave" he told her.

"Well by then we'll have sex to compensate for the lack of mattress right?" Kate asked him, Mike didn't know how to respond "Right?" she prompted. He could see she worried which amused him to no end as he knew she was putting on an act.

"Yeah, we'll see" Mike told her, he couldn't help but tease her and it was worth it when her face fell in shock.

"Please tell me you're joking" Kate groaned, she pulled the sheet to cover her face when Mike didn't give her an answer except to chuckle.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

* * *

"So, did you make her comfortable in your quarters?" Tom asked in a snide manner when Mike returned to his stateroom half an hour later.

"I've barely used the room since we started this crusade of yours and I'll be bunking in with Burk as his quarters have a spare bed. So don't worry, my virtue will remain intact" Mike said dryly, he had stayed behind longer than he intended but he was reluctant to leave the comfort of the bubble he and Kate had created. It had felt like no time had passed between them as old habits of bantering came back and the outside world and it's troubles just took a back seat. After months of living through one drama to the next and trying not to wallow in his own grief it felt like a brief yet much needed respite. They hadn't talked for long before she dozed off but he hadn't wanted leave as he knew this conversation was waiting for him.

"We could shuffle around the female crew" Tom told him as he closed the log books he had been looking at to give Mike his full attention. It had to of been the third time Tom read over them which rankled Mike as it wasn't like he'd left the ship long enough to do anything of note. _With exception of draining the fuel reserves for the UAV's and Helicopter..._ he annoyingly reminded him, other than that there wasn't anything fascinating or past a 10 minute read.

"All the berths in the areas designated for the female personnel are filled up even with Tophet's family in his stateroom" Mike said as he took up a chair in the room and reclined back._ At least someone had been reunited with their family..._ he silently added.

"We could just have her restrained in the Infirmary" Tom remarked, Mike gave him an incredulous look as it seemed rather extreme to make such a suggestion.

"Does it make you that uncomfortable for Lassiter to be in my stateroom?" Mike asked him.

"Yes, it does" Tom told him honestly.

"Why?" Mike asked.

"You know my reasons" Tom told him.

"No, actually I don't" Mike replied as he could think up a lot of reasons but it wasn't like Mike told Tom about his past relationship with Kate. So the man really had no clue of the situation between them. Mike didn't want to explain it to him either as it wasn't Tom's business.

"You two have history and I originally thought perhaps it wouldn't be an issue given how hostile you were towards her but your tune has changed since I've come back from the Vyerni. What gives?" Tom asked.

"She's proven herself. She handed over the data packet free and clear. It has everything even her back history and medical files. Same with Tex's. It's comprehensive and I know for a fact that neither of them would want that kind of information seeing the light of day" Mike said choosing to not say what he knew Tom wanted to admit. Tom probably wanted Mike to admit he had crossed the line with Kate and was currently in the mother of all grey areas when it came to adultery and fraternisation given their current climate.

"That so?" Tom asked in a slightly insinuating manner. Mike gave him a dark look as he didn't appreciate the tone. It made him feel like the years they served together, his performance and service were all being questioned. It was also insulting that Tom would just assume Mike would crumble to pieces because of Kate when Mike already proved he was willing to put the ship and it's crew before her. He put this mission before his own desires to find his kids and Tom still questioned his loyalty.

"You can read it for yourself but I would suggest we limit who has access to data packet. We also have to address how we're going to protect Dr Scott's research before we reach home. There's a lot distance between us and home and we haven't exactly been lucky on making friends" Mike said directing the conversation away from the topic of Kate as he knew it would only make him angry if they continued.

"We haven't run into any other hostile vessels except for the Vyerni" Tom said.

"But I highly doubt it's the last ship that we'll encounter and it's not like we've had the best of luck on this journey either. Given everything what has happened, I highly doubt it'll be warm welcome when we return home" Mike said grimly. He wanted to put in contingency plans and a possible lock down protocol for the lab in the event the ship was boarded. They didn't need any more unpleasant surprises or delays and that was before they got back home.

"I know we've had a few security issues on the ship but we don't need to protect ourselves from our own country" Tom scoffed, as he felt Mike was overreacting just a touch. He was all for being cautious but he didn't expect any issues once they reached port. They only needed to find a lab and let Dr Scott do her thing.

"You said it over 2 months ago when we started this mission. We have no idea what we're walking into-"

"That was different. There were too many unknown variables back then" Tom argued, he knew Mike was still holding a grudge over not disbanded the crew and allowing them all the chance to go home to their families but the mission was critical to the survival of the human race.

"We still have the same unknown variables but now we have a possible vaccine on board" Mike said.

"Which will help us save the world" Tom said.

"Or potentially will put us into the middle of some political shit storm and have us arrested for going AWOL when we didn't make port at North Carolina" Mike argued.

"We couldn't risk it" Tom told him but even that was a weak excuse as the orders hadn't been authenticated and received through the proper channels. But then extreme times called for loosening some of the rules.

"We had orders and you violated them when you ordered a change of course. I'm an accomplice for not relinquishing you of your command and fulfilling said orders" Mike told him.

"We had a dodgy live feed to a bunker for about 3 minutes where the told us this mission was important from a woman who was the Speaker of the House. She's also probably dead and we have no record of her 'orders'." Tom told him.

"Yeah we'll see how it pans out but until then we need to prepare for the worst" Mike said.

"You're getting paranoid over nothing and that woman was our president" Tom told him.

"There's no official body of government any more and frankly I know there is no such thing as good deed that goes unpunished" Mike remarked dryly.

"What we're-"

"As soon as we dock at the first port you're going to run straight for your family with the vaccine. What about the rest of us? We'll have to wait and see. Not exactly altruistic of you" Mike said, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of satisfaction as he was getting back at Tom for questioning his character.

"You're overstepping" Tom warned him.

"I'm making a valid point and one that I know if our positions were reversed; I'd act the same way" Mike said making the concession as it was true. "But I don't see the point in talking about 'ifs' and 'maybes'. What I need are contingency plans in place ready to go for when the time comes because someone has to stay on the ship and we both know it'll be me" he added.

* * *

"Kate" Rachel's voice drifted through Kate's conscience slowly and annoyingly waking her up. Kate made a noise of discontentment as she wanted to stay blissfully asleep but it wasn't going to happen.

So painfully she opened her eyes and gave a muffled groan as she did not want to be awake as she felt like she was suffering the King of hangovers. The last time she felt this lousy she had gotten filthy drunk which had been after Jack's funeral. Dealing with strangers in her home telling her how sorry they were for her loss, that it was tragic accident was enough to turn a saint to drink.

"Mmm, hey" Kate said to Rachel as she remembered she was supposed to respond when someone called her name. Rachel sat on the edge of the bed holding a bottle in her hand. The room was blissfully dim as the only light filtered from the open door that led to the outer room/office part of the stateroom.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked her.

"Hungover and sore, you?" Kate asked her.

"Much better after I had some sleep" Rachel informed her.

"Good, what's the time?" Kate asked, Rachel's lips quirked into an amused smile.

"9pm, you need food and I thought you might like some more pain killers" She said as she held up the bottle and gestured to the minuscule night stand by the bed where a bottle of water sat with a smaller orange pill container obviously filled with some form of pain medication.

"Oh, yeah. That would be good" Kate said as it sounded great.

"Why don't we go out into the main room. It'll be more comfortable" Rachel suggested.

"But this is a real mattress" Kate said, the pout had been automatic as she really didn't want to leave the cocoon she was currently wrapped up in. Sleeping in Mike's bed was pleasurable on so many levels and lacking in some. What was lacking was him not being in bed with her. But the bed was comfortable, warm and smelt faintly of Mike which definitely aided her sleep as it reminded her of more relaxing times.

"I'm sure it's quite luxurious but I think the Commander would prefer you not eat in his bed" Rachel told her.

"I'll take my chances" Kate said as she slowly used her good arm to push herself upright. She pulled the pillow up to cushion her back against the wall, she was exhausted just from the effort. "If you want I can move over and make space for you" Kate added.

"Why not, I highly doubt I'll get such an offer from Commander Slattery" Rachel joked, Kate smiled as she awkwardly shuffled over onto the left side of the bed. Rachel kicked off her boots and took up the space Kate had vacated and leaned her back against the wall with her legs out in front of her with her ankles crossed.

"Your dinner" Rachel said as she handed Kate a bottle that was filled with questionable brown diluted puree.

"Please tell me they didn't blend whatever was for dinner and put it in this bottle" Kate said as she looked at the contents suspiciously. The idea of a pot roast and vegetables with gravy blended up and put in a bottle disturbed and nauseated her greatly.

"No, it's just oatmeal, some vegetables and fruit. Chef's concoction" Rachel told her as she took the bottle back and uncapped it before handing back to Kate.

"Mm" Kate said in a non committal manner after she took her first flavour was alright but the texture left something to be desired. But it wasn't going to stop her from drinking the rest of it as she needed to eat and frankly she'd eaten worse, so she wasn't going to complain. "Thank you" she added.

"You're welcome" Rachel said, she uncapped the orange container and handed Kate two tablets to take. "So, this is what the Commander's room looks like" she remarked as she capped the container and placed it back on the night stand.

"Yep" Kate replied before she took another sip and downed her pain killers.

"It's rather Spartan" Rachel said making conversation.

"in comparison to?" Kate asked with a bemused expression as she took another sip of her drink.

"The Captain's" Rachel answered.

"What were you doing in his bed?" Kate asked in a teasing tone. Rachel rolled her eyes as she ignored the comment about being in his bed when they both knew she hadn't nor was she ever going to be there. The man was married and happily so.

"The Captain has kid's drawings, trinkets and photos of his kids and wife on the walls and the desk. I don't see any of photos of Commander's family" Rachel said.

"He has a couple photos of his kids in the main area" Kate said as she kind of felt the need to defend Mike just because his room wasn't a shrine to his family. It was just a place he worked and slept in when he wasn't on the bridge or doing the rounds on the ship.

"But not of his wife?" Rachel asked picking up on the fact that Mike didn't have a photo of his wife in the quarters. It did say a lot about the current state of his marriage.

"Are you here to gossip?" Kate asked her in a mock patronising tone. A smile playing on her lips as she wondered what Rachel was trying to dig out of her about Mike or if she was just going for the easiest conversation topic at hand that wasn't her work.

"No, just making an observation" Rachel said innocently.

"Uhuh" Kate said dryly as she didn't believe Rachel for a second.

"I brought some of items you'll need for tomorrow"

"Such as?"

"A change of clothes, shoes. Also your toiletries bag in case you want to brush your teeth in the morning" Rachel said.

"Thank you" Kate said as she appreciated the kindness.

"It's the least I could do. So you and The Commander are getting along more amicably than before?" Rachel asked.

"He feels guilty for me getting injured on the Vyerni" Kate informed her. She trusted Rachel to keep a secret but Kate didn't want her in the position to have to do so as there was enough tension between Tom and Rachel.

"He must feel incredibly guilty since he's given you his stateroom or maybe it's something else" Rachel said it like the man had given her an engagement ring or frolicking through the ship professing his love while throwing rose petals in the air. The thought of doing the latter nearly made Kate choke on her smoothie from just from the imagery alone.

"Yeah this mattress is Mike's declaration of unrequited love" Kate drawled sarcastically.

"So your husband gave you a mattress or is it just the Naval thing?" Rachel asked her mockingly as she went a long with Kate's irreverent comment.

"No, when I first met Jack he told me that I was about as useless as a G-rated Porn flick" Kate told her, she was paraphrasing what Jack said but then Rachel didn't need to know the entire version of events.

"Wow, that lovely pick up line" Rachel said dryly as it sounded like anything but romantic.

"Yeah, well our first meeting not romantic at all. I was co piloting a Helo during an exfil of Jack and his team from the field. Cut the story short, the helo was shot down, he and I were the only survivors. We had to make it back to base on foot. Understandably, he was an asshole the whole entire time because being a woman I shouldn't have been allowed to fly a helo into dangerous territory" Kate said with a chuckle as Jack had taken the title and worn it proudly that day and the days following before they reached base again.

"Gee he sounds like a keeper" Rachel remarked in a tone that said she didn't understand at all.

"Yeah, he kept me in a foul mood. He explained to me after that anger was a better motivator for self preservation than fear. We survived, so I guess he was right" Kate said casually as she downplayed it, she didn't want to got into details. She never spoke about any of her missions that went bad. The only exception was when she had to be cleared by medical and writing her report for her commanding officer but she always played it cool. If she had shown even an iota of her real emotions she was sure they'd pack off back to Australia.

"And after all the apologies were exchanged you two fell in love?" Rachel asked. Kate made a derisive noise and shook her head.

Kate didn't blame Rachel for the assumption but her and Jack's story wasn't exactly a sweeping action romance story. At the time it hadn't been romantic at all; injured, drenched in sweat, smelling of blood, fuel and smoke didn't make one attractive and there had been no pit stops for nookie in the spare times they had managed to get while they were kept the enemy off their trail. But then at the time she had Mike, who was her escape from reality and the man she had been deeply in love with. So she could have had the whole cast of 'Thunder from down under' offer themselves up on a silver platter and she still would have passed.

"Hell no, I had zero interest in him. In fact, I hated his guts but I respected him for doing what he had to do to keep us alive even if he was an asshole about it." Kate told her. Kate knew she could say that was when she was with Mike but wanted to keep that to herself. She had to admit she liked keeping her and Mike's story for herself.

"But obviously you changed your mind about him" Rachel said.

"Yeah" Kate said feeling a little sad as she took a sip of her smoothie. The problem with remembering how she and Jack started was that it reminded her of how she and Mike finished and the time after Mike was gone from her life. It reminded her the high propensity of people leaving her which greatly saddened her. "It did, we reconnected a year and half later after we first met. I left the army, we got married and then six months later he died" Kate said sardonically but really it came off melancholic.

"I'm sure there was more to it than just that" Rachel said trying to save them both from becoming depressed and sinking into their own grief.

"Yeah but I'd prefer we not talk about it" Kate said, Rachel gave her an empathetic smile "I'd rather talk about the Journalist" Kate said in a daring tone, Rachel gave her a dower look as she was envious of Kate's ability to switch from morose to amused and teasing in basically the snap of her fingers.

"He has a name" Rachel informed her. She had shared it with Kate but the woman refused to use it and she preferred to tease Rachel about her love life or lack there of like they were two teenage girls braiding each other's hair instead of adult women. But then it did keep things light and fun, it made her smile as she could reminisce without thinking too deeply on the fact that her 'Journalist' was most probably dead.

"I prefer to call him 'The Journalist'. It sounds like it would be an amazing chapter in your autobiography. The only question is will it be followed by a chapter called 'The Captain' Or will it be 'The Soldier of Fortune'."

"I think those pain killers are kicking in" Rachel mused.

"The drugs haven't kicked in yet and in case you're wondering Tex is the Soldier of Fortune" Kate told her.

"I figured that"

"He has a heart of gold and is quite hirsute which is apparently a sign of virility" Kate informed her.

"Really? Did google tell you that?" Rachel asked half amused and sceptical.

"I think Tex did. You know he really likes you" Kate told her in all seriousness.

"Yes, I realise this" Rachel said, the thought made her nervous and unsure of how to handle it as she had enough on her plate. "But I'm in no position to give him anything and I have my hands full with trialing the vaccine and you"

"Me?"

"Yes, you sent us all into a frenzy when you disappeared"

"You and the Captain are like the strictest pseudo parents I've ever had" Kate told her.

"Excuse me?" Rachel asked incredulously, a smile played on her lips none the less as it was amusing to have a woman who had to be her age or close to it tell her she thought of her as a pseudo parent.

"You're my mother; ever forgiving and making sure I'm looked after and Tom is the father; obviously because he has the whole overbearing and disapproving of everything I do and always telling me I should do better thing down pat but you both give me advice about Mi- the Commander" Kate explained as if it were the most obvious thing to think of.

"And I guess Commander Slattery would be your inappropriate choice of suitor?" Rachel asked mockingly as she decided to indulge in the irreverent conversation.

"Wow, suitor. You know personally I prefer 'Gentleman caller'. It sounds more civilised where as suitor conjures up images of sword fighting and dragons" Kate said.

"You have an odd imagination" Rachel said shaking her head.

* * *

"You got something to say?" Mike asked Tex. He had just put the coffee carafe back into the machine as he had poured himself a fresh cup of coffee. He knew he really shouldn't be drinking any more caffeine as he needed to sleep but habit got the better of him. He had been about to move to a chair and sit down with some paperwork but Tex had come into room and walked up to him with purpose.

"Yeah, how do you reconcile with conscience on sending two defenceless women to a ship filled with Russians?" Tex asked him. Mike had to give the man kudos for just coming right out and saying what his problem was. Not that it was hard to tell considering he had been forewarned by Dr Scott. He was still waiting for her to give him an update about Kate's condition but then she'd only left him an hour ago to see her.

"They are both strong capable women. We gave the doc a weapon and Lassiter is a soldier. She knows how to take care of herself in a fight" Mike said as he moved to the chair at the head of the table and sat down. He knew it was best not to meet Tex's anger with a calm and detached approach. If he showed any deference then it would only make the man read into the situation more than necessary and he knew for a fact Tex didn't know about him and Kate; their past or their present.

"Oh really? So it doesn't bother you that she nearly died?" Tex asked, Mike's lips quirked in a faint smile as he knew the man was baiting him into a fight but Mike wasn't going to tangle with man. No matter how tempted he was.

"Are you trying to see if I feel remorse over my actions?" Mike asked casually as he pulled the files he had brought him to in front of him and opened them. He had to admit it was amusing that as the world has gone to hell they still went through the same rituals of making reports and filling out paper work even though it seemed rather redundant as it would never be reviewed by a higher authority.

"I'm trying to figure out what kind of man you are" Tex said as he took a seat to Mike's left and stared at him in such a way that would have made a weaker man squirm but Mike was not that man. He instead found it oddly amusing and maybe it was amusing because he was sleep deprived and that he knew that Tex's anger was just a waste of the man's energy and time.

"Dr Scott and Lassiter volunteered just like any member of this would have given the chance. Ruskov wanted them and it worked in our favour as it gave us the opportunity to save the Captain and you from the Russians and disable their ship. We lost Cossetti and Lassiter was probably not that far behind. It's a sad reality of the work we do. As to how I reconcile what decisions I make and the consequences said decisions with my conscience? Well that's my business" Mike told him.

"So you don't care" Tex said. Mike looked up from his report and looked at Tex with a firm gaze so the man didn't misinterpret him.

"No, I do care. I just don't see the point in wearing my emotions on my sleeve." Mike said callously stating the obvious as Tex was showing his emotions quite well but then he was a hot head and after reading the man's personnel file. Well let's just say Mike couldn't blame the man for having anger management issues especially towards people who were figures of authority. But he had a limit on how long he would allow himself to be a target for character assassinations.

Tex gave him a dark look and opened his mouth to refute the accusation but the door opened to the wardroom and Rachel stepped in with an empty bottle. The same bottle that had a smoothie he had the chef make for Kate. He figured it'd be easier for Kate to consume as it didn't require cutlery nor did it have to be eaten at a certain temperature.

"Sorry, am I interrupting?" Rachel asked them.

"Not at all, Doc. I assume you've seen Red?" Tex asked.

"I have" Rachel said as she placed the empty bottle into a dish rack left for dirty cups and dishes to be washed at a later time. She then moved to the coffee and tea station to get herself a cup of tea.

"Is she still awake?" Tex asked his tone hopeful.

"No, she took some pain killers and went back to sleep" Rachel informed him, Tex looked a little disappointed as Mike assumed the man had wanted to see Kate.

"Fair enough, will it be ok if I drop by your quarters and have a private word with her?" Tex asked looking hopeful. Mike looked to Rachel expecting her to correct him and say Kate was Mike's stateroom. Something told him that Tex would not be very happy with the news.

"Tex, she really needs to rest." Rachel said in a tone that said that it wasn't the right time for what Tex wanted. Mike was also a little surprised the woman didn't say that Kate was in his quarters but also appreciated the privacy it afforded Kate and himself.

"Yeah, ok, I get it. I can wait" Tex said gruffly as he looked slightly dejected. He rose from his chair and left the wardroom without another word to Mike, he had to admit he was expecting the man to make at least a snide remark about their conversation not being over. Rachel looked to Mike when the door closed.

"I assume you didn't want it announced the ship where Kate is sleeping" Rachel said.

"I doubt it's going to be a secret for long but I appreciate you not telling Tex until he's cool down" Mike remarked as he closed a file and opened another pretending to work so they didn't prolong their conversation.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

* * *

Kate woke up to the sound of clinking of metal and swish of water. She opened her eyes and saw Mike in the small ensuite with the door open. He was dressed in a navy t-shirt and BDU pants with a hand towel over his shoulder; looking into a mirror over the small pull-out vanity as he shaved. She took a deep breath and exhaled ignoring the pangs of pain in her body as the clean scent of water, sandalwood and bergamot deliciously lingered in the air.

"Morning, you'll have to get up if you want Breakfast" Mike told her as he obviously caught her movement as she managed to sit upright. She only got up because she wanted to get a better view, she knew it was probably made her seem a bit of a weirdo but watching him do his morning ritual of shaving was oddly comforting. The slow, methodical, well practised movements of the razor and the attention to care and detail in the habitual act.

"Not going to bring me my meals and nurse me back to health?" Kate asked him as she pulled the pillow up and sat back against the wall. She kept her tone light as she was only half joking. Breakfast in bed would have been great as she was pretty enamoured of his bed and the idea of not moving out. He paused in his shaving and turned to look at her with a smug smile.

"Nope, you're spoilt as it is enjoying my bed" he informed her before he went back to shaving his morning stubble off.

"I'd enjoy it more thoroughly if you were in the bed with me" Kate told him, he paused mid stroke with his razor and looked at her again but this time taking the time to really see her. Kate's hair was mussed from sleep and her clothing was askew normally it would have been a very tempting picture if it weren't for her bruises were now in full colours and contrasted painfully with her pale skin. Not that she looked bothered by her injuries as she wore a lazy smile and reclined in his bed with the blankets draped over her legs. It was definitely a tempting offer but he wasn't sure of how to touch her let alone share a bed with her (if it was an option) without hitting a bruise or injuring her further.

"Another time" He offered.

"I'll hold you to that" Kate told him, he said nothing as he turned back to finishing his morning shave. He had only gotten a few uncomfortable hours of sleep on his couch in the other room. He had purposefully out off fixing his sleeping arrangements as he had wanted to see Kate... _you mean watch her sleep..._ a voice in his head taunted him. So he had watched her for a couple of minutes but he could of sworn she was dead considering how shallow her breathing was. He figured it was due to the broken ribs and having to sleep in a sling. The only comfort was that when he felt for a pulse it was present strong and steady.

Kate rose from the bed and moved to stand at the open doorway. Mike flicked a look her way and wondered what she was up to before he finished the last stroke of morning stubble off his face.

"Home made?" Kate asked as she picked up the jar of shaving soap that sat on the sink and read the label. She gave it a sniff and made a 'not bad' facial expression as Mike washed the razor and then washed his face with water rinsing whatever remained of the soap off his face. Then pulled the towel off his shoulder and dried his face.

"Birthday gift from my Mom" Mike said as he figured it would stop her from making any harsh or snide comments like Christina had when he first received them. She had even tried to throw it out as she hated the smell but Mike wasn't one to waste things. So he kept them for when he was deployed as it made it easier to pack his go bag and didn't take up as much space as the expensive skincare Christina filled their bathroom cabinet with last Christmas as a gift from the kids. He didn't need 6 different products just for his face, nor did he like smelling like a French gigolo but he used it because he thought it would at least make Christina happy.

"If I remember; you told me she's really into the whole organic clean eating thing. Didn't know she was into making skincare products" Kate said making idle conversation as she placed the jar back on the small sink.

"Yes, she started doing it as a hobby" Mike replied as he applied the moisturiser as it served to stop razor burn.

"Is it any good?" Kate asked out of curiosity. She gestured to his face with her left hand before using to cup her right elbow, to support her right arm. He couldn't help but the gesture made him focus on all the damage to her person up close; the bruises, the knicks and scratches. How her shoulder looked swollen. It made him frustratingly angry but it also made him want to comfort her and make her forget every ache and pain. It made him wondered why she wasn't pissed off at him for letting her go to the Vyerni.

"Why do you ask?" He asked her, he felt a little suspicious because he was used to Christina building up to fight by using another conversation as a segue to what she really wanted to say. It always reminded him of that asshole joke of 'I think you're pretty... ' sure it started as a compliment but then it ended with 'pretty ugly'.

"I'm making conversation. You don't have to worry about me using your kit to shave my legs or anything" Kate told him with a chuckle. He relaxed as he felt stupid for having to remind himself that Kate was not Christina, it should be easy to do but he'd been conditioned from the last few years any conversation with Christina usually ended with her making some criticism about him or something he did. He also needed to break the habit and not generalize all women into the category Christina sat in.

"It does it's job and the smell isn't too overpowering or offensive" Mike said with a shrug.

"Well for what it's worth I think it smells pretty good" Kate told him.

"Ok" he said in a slow drawl as he took her compliment at face value. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

"Too early to ask that question. Ask me again in a week" Kate told him as she leaned her head against the door frame. He looked her over again to see if he was missing something in her answer. He couldn't help but worry about her as she shared the same bad coping mechanism of bottling her emotions and problems up and saving them for later. It never ended well or worse it just festered within, like his guilt and grief over Lucas' death and him taking his anger out on Tom for blatantly accusing the man of wanting to save his kids at the cost of his and the rest of the crew's chance of trying to save their own families. But he did resent the fact that Tom was seemed happy to run off and just leave the ship and it's crew to be Mike's responsibility.

"I should get out of the way and let you do what you need to do" Mike said as he packed up his gear quickly; so he could get out of the way.

"Hey, are you ok?" Kate asked him, she hadn't been completely oblivious to Mike's mood this morning as he was acting a little standoffish. But she figured it was due to a bad night's sleep and having to get to his duties but now she wondered if maybe she had said or done something to make him act the way he was.

"Yeah, fine" he told her. He tried to leave the ensuite but Kate moved in front of him and blocked the small doorway.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Kate asked him with concern. He couldn't help but notice that her hand was still on his upper arm nor did it miss his attention how close she was standing to him.

"Nothing and everything" Mike told her cryptically with an annoying shrug as if downplaying it would make her lose interest and talk about something else.

"Mike, since we're not having sex; you wanted us to start 'new' and get to know one another again. Well it means you kinda have to talk to me because you have no other distraction methods available to you" Kate told him as she moved her hand from his arm and cupped her elbow again. It was like the open doorway to the ensuite had become a line between them. The question was who was going to cross the first.

"Really?" He asked her incredulously as she couldn't seem to have one conversation without mentioning sex and now that she had it was all he could think about given their close proximity. It was definitely a game for them as the air seemed to crackle with anticipation. Who was going to cave and considering Kate was blocking the doorway and Mike was reticent to touch her in case he hurt her. Well, she was winning the game and right in the moment Mike didn't mind because wonder they left the room they would have to pretend that they were colleagues.

"Well, you could take off your clothes. That would be a good distraction but I can't say it would help you keep the 'no sex' rule in check or you could kiss me until I pass out from exhaustion but it'll take a lot more effort and time that you don't have at the moment. Especially if you want the whole crew to know we're not in here making the mattress squeak" Kate told him with an amused smile. He shook his head at her as only she could be so utterly exasperating, crass and attractive all at the same time.

"I'll tell them you're not my type" Mike told her in a matter of fact tone, Kate smiled up at him as she looked entirely too pleased and amused at his comment. But then they both knew he would fail miserably at selling that lie given the fact that she was currently standing in his stateroom after spending the night in his bed. They would eventually misconstrue their early behaviour towards one another to be verbal foreplay or wherever their wild imaginations wanted to take it.

"How's that working out for you so far?" she asked mockingly. He had to smile at the question as even he knew he wasn't convincing anyone of that lie. He just wished people let him have a private life and only stick their nose into it when it became apparent that it was interfering with his work.

"Not very well. Tom already has an issue with you sleeping in my stateroom when I'm not even here" Mike told her. Though that was a lie as he had been in the stateroom with her, just not in bed with her. The distinction to him was rather relevant because he'd rather be in trouble for something he did do not what they just assumed. Kate's smile dropped at the knowledge that she was getting in between Mike and Tom. She didn't want to interfere with their friendship as it would affect their work.

"You know I could go back to my own quarters" Kate said in a serious manner so Mike knew she wasn't joking.

"No, we've been on this ship for nearly 6 months and we haven't had this' He gestured between the two of them "interfere with my duties. I traded you for his ungrateful ass. So no, you're going to stay here until you've recovered and are able to lift your arm above your head without pain." he told her. they both knew it would be quite a while before she managed that feat and Kate was silently relieved he wasn't kicking her out.

"Ok but seriously, the crew needs you two to be in an amicable relationship. I'm not going to be the Yoko Ono of the Nathan James" she told him.

"Ok, I'll let you know when it gets to that point" he said trying not to keep a straight face and not laugh at her.

"You're laughing at me" Kate deadpanned.

"Only on the inside" he assured her, she made a face of mock displeasure at him but he didn't care as he knew she wasn't taking him seriously. "So you going to let me out of the bathroom so we can go have breakfast?" Mike asked her as he closed the gap between them. He only had to slide his arms around her waist and lift her out of the way but he liked the tension and anticipation between them, the power play of who was going to make the first move.

"Depends" Kate told him.

"On what?" he asked as he placed his hands on the side of the door frame and lowered his face closer to hers.

"If you're going kiss me or not" She told him.

"You'd hold me hostage for a kiss?" he asked her incredulously.

"I prefer to call it a 'negotiation for your freedom' and given you're the one afraid to touch me; I have an advantage" Kate told him in a mocking lyrically manner. She even gave a little shake of her body which if he remembered correctly was the beginning of her victory dance. He could just imagine she would sing in a poor imitation of MC Hammer singing 'U can't touch this' with some disjointed body movements as dancing was something Kate had never mastered.

"I'm not afraid to touch you but maybe I'm waiting for you to make the first move" he told her as she moved her lips closer to his. It was so tempting to just give in the extra millimetres and kiss her but he held back because it was fun to torture her just as much as she tortured him.

"This isn't how this works" she whispered against his lips. He gave a chuckle and was one second away from kissing her thoroughly and completely but stopped as a knock at the door sounded. "Expecting someone?" Kate asked.

"No" he told her, Kate pulled back from him first and took a deep breath to fortify herself. Mike stepped out of the bathroom, annoyed at being interrupted as he had wanted to play out the tease and kiss Kate but now the moment was broken. "Do you want me to hide?" Kate asked in a low voice. Mike stopped at the bedroom door and looked back at her with a frown.

"No, now get yourself ready and if you need a hand. Just call out" he told her. Kate nodded but she looked a mixture of disappointed and sad, the latter emotion confused him as he wondered why she would feel sad but as a knock sounded at the main door to his stateroom he didn't have time to speculate. So he begrudgingly half closed the bedroom door to afford Kate some privacy and the ability to call him for help.

* * *

Meanwhile in Helo Bay One,

"Ok just to confirm you got a vaccine that works" Tom stated for the third time to Rachel as he needed her to clarify what she had. But Rachel as always was giving him the run around as she couldn't say with complete certainty that she did have a vaccine. They were both seated at the desk with the large computer monitors and Rachel's work.

"I have a workable prototype" Rachel answered in a bored if somewhat patronising manner as she had already explained it to Tom at least twice and she felt like she was about to repeat herself yet again. It was frustrating as she liked to celebrate the small victories in her research and all Tom focussed on were the failures and her inability to say with absolute certainty that she had a vaccine. She could never say she had a vaccine until they completed a few human trials. Obviously given the situation they would only have enough time for one, maybe two trials as the more time that passed the less survivors there were going to be.

"Which means?" he asked her. She grimly wondered if Tom interrogated everyone in the same manner as it was repetitive and annoying.

"That the monkey survived and that prototype was successful" Rachel told him, wondering how many times they were going to go over it.

"So should we get more monkeys?" Tom asked her. This question was finally different from all the others and Rachel felt a small sense of relief as it meant they were moving forward.

"No, I would prefer to do human trials than waste time repeating what appears to be a success" Rachel said, she was careful how she worded her sentences as she didn't want to have him throw her words back in his face at a later date when the vaccine wasn't successful. She wanted it to work. No, she needed it to work as she needed to the Nathan James something for all the lies she had told them, for keeping them from their families.

"You're that confident it will work?" Tom asked her.

"Yes but I don't want to make promises or guarantees. Making vaccines is a lengthy process of trial and error. Know that when we move forward into the phase of human trials that if the prototype fails those in the group will die" Rachel told him. She needed to paint a grim picture for him so when he told the crew they weren't under any illusions to what they were signing up for.

"I get that" Tom said as he weighed the pros and cons of the situation.

"And you can't just go out into the ship and point at the people you don't like and conscript them into the trials. The groups will have comprise of people with varying blood types and genetic markers. A cross section. Men, Women, young and middle age to older etc" Rachel told him, Tom unconsciously scratched the back of his head when she said 'older'. Touching his grey hair suddenly made him feel like she was trying to say something about his age. Not that he minded being grey but even he had his moments of vanity and that he wasn't getting any younger, but then he reminded himself that he was probably in the best shape of his life. So it was checks and balances.

"Rios, Quincy and I will have to run blood panels and interview every prospective test patient for their medical history and their family's medical history-"

"Speaking of, you get around to Lassiter's blood work?" Tom asked her, he knew Rachel would explain the process to the crew or he would make her so he didn't need her to go into great detail but it did make for an easy segue to the issue about Kate becoming a possible carrier for the virus and what was lurking in her bloodwork. He hadn't been able to sleep last night, so he spent the night in CIC going through the data packet on Kate's iphone had hooked up to the CIC systems. He barely scratched the surface as there was too much information on it to know where to start, he gave up around 2am trying to figure out where to begin. So he left to grab a few hours of sleep.

"I didn't have to finish the tests as hers and Tex's medical files were in the data packet. Kate was kind enough to allow me full access to everything medical and science related in that message. I looked at it a couple of hours ago" Rachel told him.

"And?" Tom asked her as he wasn't going to question her sleeping patterns.

"Nothing useful for our current situation. Lassiter Industries was just as stumped as the rest of the world about the virus though they did manage to detect the human gene in the virus. They chalked it up to the virus being weaponized like my supposition of the facts but now I know we were both wrong about it being a weapon. It was just one man's ego and his belief that he could save the world with his DNA" Rachel said shaking her head in disbelief.

"So what about Lassiter? Is she going to be in your trials?" Tom asked out of curiosity, it made him more curious to read her personnel file given that it had changed Mike's opinion of her.

"Not the first round. Her injuries preclude her from being a viable subject, if her arm is not broken then I'd like to put her in the second round" Rachel told him.

"There will be a second round?" Tom asked, he just assumed one trial would be enough.

"It's a small space, we can't just do one trial and say the job is done. There will be too many variables that we can only rule out by multiple trials and I have a feeling Kate will be an unknown variable which will make the second trial quite interesting" Rachel remarked, she gave Tom an empathetic smile as he didn't seem convinced. "I was reading Kate's medical files. Lassiter Industries owns majority shares in a pharmaceutical company called 'Avocet'. The company has-" Rachel was going to continue but Tom cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Can we skip the organisational structure breakdown of Lassiter Industries and get to the important part" Tom said as he didn't have time for the long winded lectures Rachel seemed fond of giving.

"Dr Jonas Lindblom, a renowned scientist in my circle received his funding came from Avocet. He and his team have published numerous papers on viral genetics but apparently they were also dabbling in genetic engineering-" Rachel continued to talk but Tom felt himself glaze over as she spoke using scientific jargon that he didn't comprehend and saying things about viral vector maps and viruses used to repair damage. He really wished on some level he could understand what she was saying as she looked incredibly impressed and interested by what she was saying.

"Hold on, you lost me" he said as he had to stop her again. Rachel took a breath and exhaled to garner her patience to just think of layman's way of telling the Captain what she knew.

"They were attempting to reprogram human genetic material using a virus as a delivery method to implement the changes to-" She started but he cut her off again which only added to her annoyance because if he allowed her to finish then maybe he would understand.

"Why?" Tom asked.

"To make an individual stronger, smarter and healthier or at least it's the aim. They affected very minor alterations to two different chromosomes. The result they were hoping for in Kate's results was for at least a 1 percent rise in her mitochondrial protein uptake-"

"Why is this important?" he asked.

"Military contracts; you want soldiers who are stronger, faster etc. and then think of the private sector for the medical benefits of curing hereditary diseases or designer children. It's a lucrative market for it" Rachel told him in a droll tone.

"Human engineering? Like cloning?" Tom asked in disbelief.

"Yes and before you draw any outlandish conclusions; Kate is most certainly not a clone nor does she possess supernatural abilities" Rachel said in a patronising manner as she just expected him to ask such questions.

"I wouldn't have asked or come to that conclusion" he told her as it was his turn to look annoyed at being considered stupid just because he asked questions.

"Their research was more directed to gene therapy research and human trials have been conducted on employees of the company for over the past decade" Rachel told him.

"Of course, they have. It's a big evil corporation" Tom said in a mocking tone, Rachel shot him a glower look as she was not making any such assertions of Lassiter Industries.

"If what I read is correct the research has shown incredible results but considering the moral and ethical quagmire of even doing such a thing it explains why they kept it to themselves. But put that aside and focus on what they were achieving. They managed just 1 percent increase in the uptake and they saw an immediate increase in cellular tempo, muscle efficiency, oxygenation. It's not just that the other alterations have produced results of increased Intelligence, obviously, but it's more than that. The results seen in neural regeneration and elasticity. Sensory function. Pain suppression. It's the most exciting development in genomic targeting in the history of the science I've ever read" Rachel told him.

"Obviously it didn't work if Lassiter is anything to go by" Tom said with a chuckle but Rachel didn't see his humour but then she knew more than he did.

"Yes and No. Kate has no idea what has been done to her. I read her medical files she's in a blind study. She had no idea the injections and the physicals she had been undergoing were really for" Rachel said, she felt incredibly disappointed in her profession for doing what they had to Kate and many others.

"I'm still not sure of what we're talking about here" Tom told her.

"Let's say the ultimate goal with Kate was not to turn her into an optimal soldier but to produce a child with improved genetics" Rachel offered, Tom gave her an incredulous look.

"Now I know you're trying to mess with me. That's ludicrous" Tom told her in a serious tone.

"It's all in the data packet. Her husband was a successful case study of how effective the genetic therapy worked. He was in his prime and they spent the last three years 'prepping' her. Her full medical and background history, everything you ever wanted to know about her and what medical procedures she has undergone." Rachel told him.

"I haven't read her files yet but I can't imagine her being so stupid to allow this" Tom said sceptical that Kate would be oblivious to what was being done to her.

"Do you question your doctor when he offers you a flu shot? Do you ask about the ingredients or ask to see the vial to make sure it's the flu vaccine?" Rachel asked him.

"I-" Tom started to answer but she cut him off.

"No, you don't. You just roll up your sleeve and take the injection. Just like how when your child is sick and gets an infection, the doctor prescribes you antibiotics. You just give them to your child without questioning yourself 'is this really an antibiotic?'. Don't you ever wonder what how different a generic drug is from it's more expensive counterpart? Have you?" Rachel asked him as she defended Kate. The woman was her friend and she wasn't going to have Tom belittle her for trusting her doctor something millions of other people had done for centuries.

"Well I will from now on" Tom mumbled as Rachel was right. He had unquestionably been injected with vaccines and never once questioned the doctor about it except for what the side effects were.

"We innately trust that doctors to care for our best interests when it comes to our health. It's not Kate's fault that her trust was violated. These people give medicine a bad name and make it harder for us to do our jobs effectively" Rachel told him. Tom felt like another tirade was about to begin so when she stopped to take a breath he cut in with another question.

"What about Tex? Was he an unwitting participant of these science projects?" Tom asked.

"No, he was considered an undesirable candidate due to failing the rigorous psychological exams" Rachel told him. Tom frowned as that didn't sound good.

"Should I be concerned with that?" Tom asked, he of course hadn't read the information but then failing a psychological test depended greatly on what they were testing and what exactly Tex failed.

"No, they were looking for particular personality traits and he didn't have 2 out of the five needed" Rachel said as if it were incredibly boring which assured Tom somewhat but it also reminded him how he was continually putting a lot of faith in people he barely knew and worse yet questioning those he did know. He thought of Mike and how their last few conversations had gone.

"Ok, could you tell me how to access Kate and Tex's personnel files?" Tom asked Rachel as he figured it would save him a lot of aggravation.

"Of course I can. Do you want to see them now?" Rachel asked, he nodded as he rose from his chair and moved to the door. He pulled it opened for them and stood back so Rachel could go first.

"Please and we'll talk about what you need for the next stage in your research" Tom told her as he gestured for her to go first through the open door.


	33. Chapter 33

_A/N: Thank you for the reviews and welcome to those who have joined the party by following the story! I'm sorry the updates have slowed but life has been a bit busier than usual..so just to assure you I'm still writing the story :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 33**

* * *

Kate looked in the mirror, examining her injuries up close for the first time. Under the harsh fluorescent lighting she could see why Mike would have an issue wanting to kiss her. She looked like the woman on the poster for domestic abuse. She took an unsteady breath as she gingerly touched the bruise on her left cheek and winced at the pain as it was tender to the touch.

She brushed the memories of that night aside which was easy as she only vaguely remembered what happened due to the vodka. Frankly Kate was glad as she didn't want to remember any of it but she wasn't that lucky. She still recalled the smell of blood, sweat and her own sick, the sounds of bones and cartilage cracking and snapping. It was all still vivid in her mind which made her wish she could take the pain killers Rachel had left without food as she would prefer to numb her body and mind for just a couple more days.

She didn't want to think about Ruskov or how much he knew about her and Jack. She didn't care that she had friends of an unsavoury nature but she did care that Jack had been stupid to talk about her. To leave her vulnerable, actually what pissed her off the most was that she never wanted anything to do with his company but he gave her his shares in the company and she couldn't give them to Evan or sell them off until the escrow went through. But then Evan had brought up that stupid I.O.U. note, so even if she had been able to get rid of her inherited ownership she wouldn't have escaped the company's clutches.

She took a deep yet unsteady breath as she felt tired, frustratingly trapped not just by her dead husband and Brother in law's actions but also by her injuries. Her lips thinned into a line as she gently pressed the bruises and hissed from the pain. She knew it would hurt but she couldn't resist testing how much pain. She wriggled the fingers on her right hand and was glad that they still functioned even if it did hurt. But she held no illusions with her shoulder and arm so painfully swollen there was not a chance in hell she'd be able to lift her arm up.

It meant she couldn't tie her hair back, getting changed was going to be a challenging task and with that in mind trying to tie her shoelaces one handed was going to be difficult. She knew it wasn't impossible but it felt like it. The only things she could do without assistance thankfully was go to the loo and brush her teeth. _Though getting toothpaste onto the brush is going to be a challenge..._ Kate thought, a smile curved on her lips as she thought up several ridiculous scenarios of how to get toothpaste onto her brush one handed. Something she had never had to worry about before today.

She knew she was being stupid in letting it frustrate and get her down as it was a temporary impediment on her abilities but she despised the vulnerability. She turned her toothbrush so the handle was stuck in her mouth and picked up the toothpaste and was about to squeeze some paste out when the door to the room opened. She had expected Mike to be occupied for awhile and give her time to try and get ready or persevere as much as she could.

"Everything alright?" Kate asked Mike but her words were garbled as her tooth brush was still in her mouth. Not that Mike seemed to have problems understanding her as he replied.

"Yeah, just going through the run down for the morning." Mike told her, he wore an odd expression as he watched her squirt some toothpaste on her brush and then cap the lid of toothpaste and toss it into the bag she had by the sink before turning on the water. He wondered why she didn't just holler out for help. Kate yanked the handle of brush out of her mouth and wet the brush and paste before sticking it brush end back into her mouth and then snapping the water off. She looked at him for a moment before she pulled out the toothbrush.

"I wasn't listening" Kate assured him as she didn't want him thinking she was eavesdropping. He gave her an odd look before a wry smile crossed his lips.

"If I didn't want you to hear anything being said I would have closed the door" He told her.

"Fair enough" Kate said before she proceeded to brush her teeth. Mike picked up a glass and moved to the bathroom filling it halfway with water before setting it down on the bench of the sink. Just to save Kate some time when she had to rinse her mouth out. She felt a sense of relief that she didn't have to awkwardly ask for help. He just anticipated her needs or perhaps given the cleanliness of his quarters he just wanted to keep it that way than watch her make a mess of flinging toothpaste and spit around the room. She preferred to think it was the former than the latter.

"You need help with anything else?" he asked her as he could see Kate's mind whirring a million miles an hour trying to figure out her next move or ask for help. But knowing Kate she wouldn't ask for help, she'd just struggle until she managed on her own or caved. Her pride and stubbornness were something that simultaneously annoyed and marvelled him. She gave him a somewhat petulant look.

"No, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself." Kate said dryly even with a mouthful of toothpaste and a brush the woman still managed to be sarcastic without looking comical.

"You could just say 'yes'." he told her as he leaned against the door frame and folded his arms across his chest. Kate's shoulder's tensed and her back straightened as if she were preparing to fight. She pulled the toothbrush from her mouth.

"I know but I just hate feeling pathetic with my current limitations like not being able to tie my hair back so I can wash my face or put on shoes or change my clothes. Do you know how hard it is to do everything left handed when you're right hand dominant and used to doing everything with two hands?" Kate asked him in an angry and frustrated tone. He knew she was upset about something more than her temporary inability to tie her shoe laces but also knew not to push it. She went back brushing her teeth in more vigorous manner.

"Yes, I broke my shoulder blade once. So I know exactly what it's like and that you might be lucky in that your arm might not be broken" Mike informed her in a tone to make her realise she wasn't the first person to ever be injured and need help. She stopped brushing and her shoulders sagged from being censured as Mike had put her in her place.

"So let's not make a big deal out of it" he told her as he turned on the tap so she could rinse her tooth brush.

* * *

An hour later in the wardroom,

"What?" Grodin asked not for the first time since he took his seat opposite Kate at the table in the wardroom that morning over breakfast. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair at Kate's blank stare. She had zoned out not that she would admit as much to Grodin nor did she realise she had been looking in his direction. Grodin frowned at her. "Seriously, quit staring at me" he told her.

"I'm not staring at you. I was looking casually in your general direction as you're sitting directly opposite me" Kate told him as she awkwardly held her spoon in her left hand and scooped some of her porridge up to eat.

Mike, Tom and Jeter sat at the opposite end of the table having breakfast and obviously having a semi private conversation as no one took up the seats near them. It was why she chose a seat at the other end, that and because she didn't want to get in the way. She and Mike hadn't exactly been gelling that morning and it was her fault. She really needed to stop having a pity party for herself. So, space between them was a good thing because she didn't want to get snarky with him and because she knew Mike's first duty was to running the ship not taking care of her.

Officers filtered in and out taking up the other chairs in between them as they had their breakfast. No one had talked to her or acknowledged her presence which was fine with Kate. It was a pity Grodin hadn't gotten the memo or decided to misinterpret her space cadet moment as a act of antagonism.

"Yeah well it's making me feel uncomfortable" Grodin told her.

"Imagine how I feel" she said as the porridge on her spoon slid off and slopped back into the bowl before she could get to her mouth. It was ridiculous and she wished she didn't have pride as it was getting between her and the breakfast in front of her. She really hated needed help to do the basic things. At least she could go to the toilet without help but she still required help with practically everything else.

Mike had helped her put on her sneakers and brush her hair for her into a low bun. She had been half tempted to ask him to braid it since he had two daughters which meant he had to have some experience but she didn't want to bring up the conversation of his kids as she was sure it was a sore spot for him. The fact that he hadn't grieved the loss of his son spoke volumes but she understood why he hadn't. She could never comprehend the pain of losing a child but knew that sometimes to function like a normal person it was best to bottle it up and save it for a time when one wasn't depended on.

"I don't want to, you look like shit" Grodin told her.

"Your sensitivity is overwhelming" Kate drawled sarcastically as she dropped her spoon into the bowl giving up on her breakfast to drink her tea.

"So what did they do to you?" Grodin asked her, Kate leaned back in her chair with her cup in hand. She held the cup to her chest as if it were going to shield her as the way he asked the question made her feel uncomfortable. If she were honest she hadn't felt entirely comfortable on the Nathan James since the Vyerni but then it had only been over 20 hours since then. The only exception was Mike's quarters but then the comfort of his place meant she could hide from everyone else and avoid idiots like Grodin.

"It's none of your business" She replied in a firm tone so he would know to drop it. She took a sip of her tea and winced as it was still a little too hot to drink but since she had committed to sitting back and reticent to move as it would hurt.

"Didn't you hear that we have this whole transparency thing going on. You can't keep it a secret" Grodin told her in a goading manner. She for not the first time in many months wondered if being an offensive idiot came natural to man or if he did it on purpose.

"Watch me" Kate told him in an exhausted and bored tone hoping her indifference would bore him but it didn't. Grodin sat forward his chair and gave her a patronising look and Kate braced herself for whatever stupid thing he would say next.

"Well with an attitude like yours and hanging around the Russians. You were probably asking for what they did to you over there" Grodin said his tone was light and amused as if he were making a joke but Kate stiffened at his choice of words.

Cold fury and surprisingly panic washed over her as her heart pounded uneven and quickly in her throat to a sickly beat. The Oatmeal she had managed to eat seemed to be on the rise as a part of her wanted to be sick and cry. But another part of her wanted to throw her hot tea into his face as a distraction before she climbed over the table to strangle him for goading her and trying to victim shame her by saying she 'deserved it'.

Those at the table who had been eating their breakfast stopped at his comment. Silence permeated the room as Kate stared at Grodin frozen in her own indecision as to what to do. Something she so rarely experienced. Tears burned in her eyes as she felt like she was about to lose some invisible thread of power she held over Grodin. Like maybe he believed that the Russians had beaten her, so now was his time to prove that he was more powerful than her; to get her while she was weak. Luckily or unluckily depending on how one viewed it, she wasn't left in the ugly limbo when surprisingly Tom spoke up.

"Lieutenant" Tom said from his chair as he didn't even look at Grodin as he cut up his breakfast. "Apologise" Tom ordered him in a cold and firm tone that should have brokered no argument.

"For what? I was just joking Sir" Grodin explained but even he realised he had overstepped his mark as the others at the table were not impressed. Tom placed his napkin on the table and stared the man down in a chilling manner.

"Your joke was disrespectful and in bad taste" Tom told him, he continued to talk but made sure he made eye contact with everyone at the table so his message was heard.

"The transparency that I have allowed on this ship is a luxury not a right and it was given in the spirit of good faith and open communication. But it is solely for exchange of information about the vaccine and how it relates to the daily operations of Nathan James. Anything outside that like the Vyerni and the events that may or may not have occurred on said ship are irrelevant and not open for public discussion." Tom told them, he allowed time for his words to sink in and dared the younger crew to challenge. But no one spoke as he turned his attention to Grodin "Now apologise" He ordered.

"I apologise" Grodin gritted to Kate as he was embarrassed for being told like a impudent child to apologise. Kate remained quiet with her lips firmed into a fine line; staring at him as she clutched her tea cup so hard it was shaking. She felt unsure of herself after Tom's speech but she knew Grodin's apology was meaningless to her.

In fact it was rather humiliating as she now realised she should of stood up to Grodin. Maybe if she had just told him of how she gutted a Russian with a knife then the kid would be so scared shitless of her he'd never annoy her again. But now, he'd seen she was weak and Tom the king of hypocrites had come to her defence. The uncertainty of her emotional state quickly changed to humiliation and anger.

"Grodin, we will have a talk about your lack of tact in my office at 1400 hours. Until then consider yourself dismissed and I suggest your make yourself scarce. Am I understood?" Tom asked in a patronising manner.

"Yes, Sir." Grodin said, he rose from his chair and a kitchen crew member cleared his tray away and wiped the table down as Grodin left the room.

"The morning show is over, get back to your breakfast people" Mike told those at the table. Kate didn't look his way but heard his voice as she stared unblinkingly down at the table, mortified but her lack of inaction and unsure of what to do or say. She flinched as she felt a hand at her shoulder and looked up to the owner to see it was Tom. He lifted the cup out of her hand and placed it on the table in front of her. He took the empty seat next to her and looked at her, giving her a moment as she pinched the bridge of her nose trying vainly not to cry. She took a slow breath to quell her nausea but it just sat in her throat like an uncomfortable lump.

"Thank you but you have more important things to do and I don't need you to counsel me" Kate said in a low tone to him, she wasn't disrespectful just pragmatic about the situation. Frankly, they were in too public place to talk even if she wanted to talk to him which she didn't. In fact she wanted to blow up at him and tell him that it was confusing that he'd treat her with suspicion and demand to know all of her 'secrets' in private. That he had about as much tact as Grodin and yet she couldn't have the luxury of privacy with Tom as he had just afforded her with the crew.

"Wouldn't dream of counselling you" Tom scoffed with a smile that Kate interpreted to be cheeky which immediately made her suspicious and exhausted. "Actually I would like to discuss the information your company has provided" he said in a low voice and there it was. He wanted to pull apart her dead husband's company and talk about something she knew nothing about.

"Lassiter Industries is not my company" Kate said as her anger was sapped away by a deepening depression she had felt when she learnt her husband's company had been using her, something that had worsen when Ruskov went on and on about his beautiful friendship with Jack. She was just a commodity, something to be used and traded.

"Even so, I want to talk about it. If you're feeling up to it" Tom said in a casual tone. He noticed the dramatic changes in Kate's expression, due to the drugs or maybe the injuries she seemed unable to hide her emotions. Emotions that were volatile and unpredictable as he'd seen her frozen and then that slip away to anger and shame, to now where she looked resigned… _no defeated_ Tom silently corrected himself.

"Can you give me a day? or is it important we discuss immediately?" Kate asked him as she placed her tea cup on the table but she kept her focus on the cup not even looking at Tom.

"Tomorrow 1100 hours, my stateroom" He said, it wasn't even a question.

"I'll be there" Kate replied as she rose from her chair. She needed to get out of the room and away from the room and it's inhabitants as she knew they would whisper about what happened. She also knew that if she didn't leave she'd look to Mike and see the indifference he had to show the crew when it came to her. Something she couldn't handle in that moment.

* * *

After Kate left the Wardroom, she slowly made her way to helo bays as she needed to see Rachel. She knew she was having a bad day and for some sick reason just needed to finish compacting all the bad news into her life. Because then maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

When she reached Helo bay One where Rachel's makeshift lab was in, the woman herself was just coming to the door herself.

"Kate" Rachel said in surprise, it was warm and welcoming which gave Kate some ease for just showing up unannounced.

"Rachel" Kate replied in greeting.

"Good to see you're following my instructions and resting" Rachel remarked in an amused and slightly dry manner.

"Are you busy?" Kate asked her.

"Not at the moment, come in" Rachel said as she opened the doors to enter into the room. Kate stepped in first and turned to Rachel as the woman closed the doors behind her. "take a seat" she said gesturing to the chairs by the makeshift desk with computer screens and paper strewn across them.

"Thanks" Kate said as she carefully sat down. Her body was still protesting her walk and well any movement of muscles in general as the pain killers hadn't kicked in yet.

"How's the arm?" Rachel asked as she noticed Kate was cupping her right elbow with her left hand.

"It's fine, how are you?" Kate asked Rachel.

"I'm ok, the Captain talked to me about the Vyerni and what happened. He seems to think I would have difficulty coping with killing the men I did" Rachel said to her in a rather blasé manner.

"Do you?" Kate asked quirking an eyebrow at Rachel. She knew she had troubles reconciling with the killing people. It wasn't something people really talked about except for headshrinkers. But then they were always gauging a person's moral compass.

One headshrinker told her that the one day a person becomes numb or enjoys taking another person's life is when it was a problem. There was probably a more complex explanation with scientific research to back it up but that's the gist Kate got. She didn't really like headshrinkers as the whole science of psychology seemed rather subjective and sometimes she wondered how much of the psychologists personal views were projected onto the patient.

"I try not to think too heavily on it as my burden is heavy enough without having to add to it" Rachel replied rather cryptically, it was enough for Kate to understand that she wasn't ok with her actions but didn't need to talk.

"Fair enough" Kate said not pursuing it further.

"Speaking of burdens, I have good news and bad news for you" Rachel said changing the topics but given how grim Rachel's expression became Kate wondered if she wanted to know. If anything her biggest burden was Lassiter Industries. Something she wished she could divest herself of completely.

"Ok" Kate said carefully.

"I finished reading your medical files and looking at your test results" Rachel said, Kate prepared herself for the worst and the point of her visit was to get all the bad news out of the way. Even so it didn't stop the sinking feeling in her gut.

"Ok"

"You were right in that you were in a medical study" Rachel continued in a formal manner explaining to Kate what she believed the purpose of medical trial had been about and the results of said trial. Rachel had to admit that Kate was taking it in her stride as she listened to Rachel's every word and didn't interrupt with any questions. It also saddened her to tell Kate as she couldn't imagine being in the woman's position, the betrayal and the violation of not only her trust but of her person on such an intimate level as changing who she was on a cellular level.

After Rachel finished explaining the medical files and the trials to Kate; silence laid heavy between them. Rachel sat in the chair opposite Kate. She watched as Kate digested the information, she was a little surprised at Kate's stoicism.

"So, I'm no longer a free range chicken" Kate said, Rachel frowned as it took her a moment to realise Kate was making a joke.

"You're perfectly normal" Rachel informed her.

"Yeah on the outside but you said it. I've been genetically altered to reproduced little super warriors" Kate said, she had to turn it into a joke otherwise she would cry and she didn't want to cry and feel Rachel's pity.

"I didn't say it like that and many people have genetic mutations-"

"But they are natural not manmade like mine are" Kate argued.

"True" Rachel conceded.

"Do you think I'll get some super powers?" Kate asked her, Rachel gave her a frustrated look as it was not the question she was expecting nor wanted. But it did help Kate smile just a bit.

"No" Rachel answered.

"Grow a tail or become excessively hairy all over?" Kate asked.

"Were you not listening to me earlier?" Rachel asked exasperated as she expected Kate to take this a little more seriously than ask questions she'd assume Tex ask.

"I was but I am vain enough to worry about the excessive body hair" Kate told her.

"I think if you were going to become hirsute; it would have manifested years ago. Since you aren't abnormally hairy or displaying feats of supernatural powers, I can confidently say you don't have to worry" Rachel replied with as much patience as she could muster as she had a feeling she was just fuelling the flames for more stupid questions.

"Good cause I can't imagine having back hair would be very attractive" Kate replied in a mock thoughtful manner.

"Well it would give your next lover something to hold onto" Rachel remarked, the words slipped out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Kate blinked at her, stunned for a moment before she said.

"Ew" Kate deadpanned as Rachel wore a slightly amused expression on her face.

"Just something to think about" Rachel replied as she couldn't believe she was bantering about back hair and Kate's future lovers after dropping such serious news in Kate's lap.

"Ok, let's move on" Kate said to Rachel in an uncomfortable tone. Rachel gave her an amused smile. "we didn't touch was what will happen to me when I'm exposed to the virus. Will I become a carrier?" Kate asked. The question Rachel had been waiting for.

"I can't be certain but you were on a different type of regiment to the study that the men were in. Yours was a subtle treatment in comparison and different genes were targeted for a variation of re- " Rachel was trying to make it easier for Kate to understand about to go into detail before Kate interrupted.

"Different recipe" Kate said dumbing it down for herself more than Rachel's sake.

"Yes, I will want to trial my vaccine on you when you've had more time to recover from your injuries." Rachel said as she was relieved that Kate got the gist as she was sure her explanation would have been confusing.

"So after 60% the bruises clear up" Kate replied.

"I'd be more comfortable with 80% but we'll assess your health in a week and see where we are at" Rachel told her as she looked at Kate and her bruises that were mellowing out into mottled blues and reds. She had a feeling in a week or so Kate would be ready to for the second trial. If Captain Chandler allowed her the luxury and that was probably contingent on the success of the first trial which was too early to predict.

"Ok, well I should leave you to it" Kate said rising from her chair.

"Kate, can I just say that I'm so sorry this has happened to you" Rachel said sympathetically. Kate gave her a quizzical look as she didn't understand why Rachel would apologise.

"It's not your fault" Kate told her.

"It's not yours either" Rachel told her.

"Of course it is. I chose to blindly trust a man I barely knew" Kate said, Rachel looked like she was ready to argue that point when the door opened. Tom and Mike stepped into the room surprised to see Kate there.

"Are we interrupting anything?" Tom asked looking to Rachel and then back at Kate who was doing her best not to lose her composure.

"It's not like I'm allowed to have any secrets from you Captain. So no, you're just in time to save me the struggle of opening a door" Kate told him rather snidely, Tom narrowed his eyes at her as he didn't appreciate her manner. He was wondering what had her in a foul mood as he had saved her this morning and made an example to his crew that Grodin's behaviour was unacceptable.

"I don't appreciate your tone" Tom told her, deciding he'd rather face her head on now than have whatever bad blood was between them grow further. "Especially given that I've treated you so well"

"You've treated me so well?" Kate scoffed, her voice rising with her anger. "You may house me, feed me and allow me the luxury of the bathroom facilities but you also fling your suspicions and wild accusations at me like mud waiting for something to stick. All the while you preach to the crew that I should be treated with respect but you don't show it for me. I gave myself over to Vyerni for you" Kate told him.

"Your decisions aren't my burden to carry" Tom told her in a firm tone misinterpreting Kate's words.

"My decision to go was fucking proof of my worth to you as more than a commodity" Kate told him, she spoke in a low tone and voice quavered which told Tom what control she had left on herself was slipping. He was also wondering why Mike wasn't stepping in to back one of them up.

"A commodity? Is that how you think I see you?" Tom asked her, disgusted she would have such an opinion of him.

"You, Ruskov and Jack. I was just a commodity. Something to be used, to be traded; beyond that I'm a waste of resources for you. I'm just amazed you haven't shot me or tossed me onto a rig and pointed to me to shore yet or did the fact that my blood has possible genetic factors that could help Rachel in her research mean I could possibly still be useful. Or maybe you need me close by so I can't impart the information on that stupid message to your 'enemies'." Kate said derisively.

"Lassiter" Tom started but for once he was actually speechless. It was probably because in that moment he realised how truly messed up and in pain Kate was in that moment. That in a way she was right when she said she was treated like a commodity instead of a person and he knew the last few weeks he had his suspicions of her which he hadn't kept to himself. But right now he felt like he was standing in a metaphorical grave dug by three men and he was one of the said men. "I'm sorry" he said in an earnest manner as there was no speech he could give her.

Kate cupped her right elbow and looked away. The apology didn't solve anything it only sapped away her angry which was replaced by her humiliation for having a mini melt down. She really needed to tap down on her emotion and get a better control of herself before she started burn bridges.

"I am too" Kate told him before she walked past them. Tom watched as she looked to Mike and his friend opened the doors for her, leading her out of Helo bay one before he returned back into the room. Tom knew that something unsaid was going on between the two as they were too in sync with one another. But he pushed the suspicious niggle he felt to the side as they had more important things to discuss and like Mike had argued last night; his personal business was his own. Also that Tom had to trust that Mike would behave appropriately and adhere to his duty to the ship.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

* * *

Hours later, Mike opened the door to the Helo Bay Two. He figured it was the closest place Kate would be given her condition and that she hadn't turn up for lunch and she wasn't in her quarters or his stateroom. He knew she had to be in physical discomfort from her injuries by now and he would have searched for her earlier but work had gotten in the way and he felt she needed time alone. One thing he knew on the Nathan James was hard to get unless one hung out in areas of the ship that weren't actively being used.

He stepped into the darkened room and closed the door behind him locking it from the inside so they wouldn't be disturbed though the chances of that were slim given that there was no need for anyone to be in there. He flicked the light switch on as he wasn't going to bother having his eyes adjust to the dark.

The lights flickered for a moment before coming on full blast flooding the area with light. The Helo stood in the centre of the room folded up, casting sharp shadows on the floor and walls from the lights. It didn't take long to find Kate as she was lying on the floor over by the work bench. Her left arm flung over her eyes to cover them from the lights. He thought for a moment that maybe she was asleep but the fingers of her left hand were fidgeting, something which Kate did when she had something on her mind.

"Kate" Mike said as he moved towards her. "You lose something?" Mike asked her in a wry tone as she lifted her arm for a moment to identify him and then laid it back over her eyes again.

"My dignity" Kate told him, as she pulled her legs up so her feet were flat on the floor and her knees bent. He wondered what made her lay down on the cold and hard floor when she had a comfortable bed in his stateroom. But then she had left the makeshift labs angry and upset, it made sense she would hide in the closest available place than have rumours of her running into his quarters in tears.

"And you thought it might be on the ceiling?" He asked her as he looked up at the ceiling for amusement sake nothing more.

"Yeah, it's up there mocking me like a recalcitrant monkey" Kate drawled sarcastically. Mike tried not to laugh at her sarcasm as she would misinterpret him as thinking he enjoyed her pain. But when he looked down at her, he saw the pain and pure exhaustion written in her expression as she lifted her arm from her face.

"I found out that Ruskov was friends with my husband Jack." Kate said in a low voice as she had been mulling over everything depressing fact of her life. "and I learnt that I really didn't know my husband very well because he allowed me to be used in a science experiment. But you knew that already" Kate said nonchalantly as she could but failed miserably.

Her body ached from laying on the hard floor, her head was pounding and her mouth was parched as she hadn't had anything to drink in hours or pain killers. She also had pitifully in her opinion; cried and not the adorable crying movie actresses did. No, it was red faced, blotchy sobbing though she kept the volume of her crying to minimal levels as she didn't want anyone seeing her or worse trying to pick her up off the floor and give her a pep talk. She was too used to looking after herself and having to appear strong to easily accept such a kindness. Though it depended on the person, as she could only think of two people she would let comfort her. Mike was one of them and the other was her friend Anna.

They had met in university and become fast friends, they even had the luck of being stationed in the same places a few times over the years. But they stayed in contact and tried to meet up when their schedules aligned. Either way, Kate didn't mind appearing weak or crying in her presence as Anna knew Kate's past and also how hard it was to maintain her image and not fall victim to being stereotyped as a 'hysterical' woman who had no control on her emotions just because she cried one time. It made her miss Anna and sad because she knew Anna was most probably dead.

"I read your personnel file. I wanted to know what you had read that had upset you" Mike told her, Kate gave him a wry smile as she already knew he would have read it or Tom would have told him. There were no secrets. He crouched down and leaned his forearms on his knees as he looked down at her. He could see she was upset and he desperately wanted to pull her up into his arms but he didn't as he knew for sure he would hurt her more than comfort her.

"Yeah, I found that Evan had an extensive background check on me and my medical file. I got the gist of it then but I spoke with Rachel today who explained my medical file to me. Apparently for the past three years that I've been in some trial study for gene therapy. I believed I was just getting my yearly check up, with complimentary flu shots and vaccine booster shots. I didn't know they were fucking around with my genetics and I know I have no right to be angry about it but I am because they were supposed to be my family and they approved for some scientist to mess with my health and they said nothing" Kate said in a dejected tone, tears ran down her face.

"You don't know that" Mike said to her, Kate sardonically laughed and shook her head.

"I do, they fucking micromanaged everything. I might have been 'randomly' picked cause I ticked a few boxes in a criteria they needed but they had the power to remove me from the trial and they didn't. Rachel said there were no side effects but knowing my luck I'll probably grow horns and a tail sometime in the future. I was such an idiot" Kate joked poorly as she wiped the tears from her face.

She felt violated even though it was stupid to her to feel that way as she had unwittingly agreed to what they did. Blind trust in Jack and Evan had been her downfall and what was worse was that she should have known better. But she thought she would be left 'untouched' by their business. She gave a sigh and looked to Mike who thankfully said nothing, instead he listened.

"You should open up the top drawer of the bench over there" Kate told him.

"Why?" he asked her. She made a face at him as she was too tired to banter with him right at the moment.

"Just do it, there's a package with your name on it" she told him, Mike straightened his legs and moved over to where she indicated. She would have watched but any slight movement on her part equalled physical pain. She listened as he opened the drawer and then closed it. The sound of paper followed as he unwrapped it.

"It's my phone" he said sounding confused, he walked back to her and crouch down to look at her with the phone in his hands. "You were supposed to take this to the Vyerni" he told her, he looked confused and angry.

"I owe you a phone case" Kate informed him in a casual manner the belied what she truly felt.

"Kate" he cautioned her as that was not the answer he had been looking for. She gave a huff of exasperation as she knew she had to answer.

"I couldn't take the damn phone. It's all you have at the moment that links you to your kids" she told him annoyed at how sentimental it made her sound. She didn't know why but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it because then she would have to evaluate what she had done and she was more comfortable with laughing it off and forgetting about it. Or at least pretending to forget as it was better than the alternative.

"You needed this to by time until 0400 hours. What happened?" he asked her.

"I weighted your phone case down and tossed it into the drink before they got to touch it" Kate said.

"I doubt the Russians were impressed" Mike said trying to remain calm as he wanted to shout at her for making such an idiotic move.

"No, they couldn't physically hurt me thanks to Ruskov's orders" Kate said the man's name with disgust and slight envy as he seemed to know more about Jack than she ever did. "They did however try to humiliate me. They drenched me with cold water thinking I would be carrying a tracker on me and then made me change into flimsy dress. They took everything, my boots, my clothes and even my jewellery because the Admiral likes his women to 'earn' their place" Kate said the last part with a scathing tone. The rest before hand had been recounted in a manner like she had read it somewhere else and just changed the pronouns. But he knew her casual detachment was her way of coping.

Mike closed his eyes as it became clear to him why Kate had her melt down at Tom and it was partially his fault. He once told her how on the ship if someone doesn't have a use then they were cut loose. Obviously Tom had just pushed that same line of thought until Kate interpreted to mean she was worth nothing to them unless she could prove otherwise.

"Ruskov told me how Jack liked having a beautiful woman on his arm and it helped I was also a decorated soldier and hero. Apparently people felt we were some kind of power couple, amazing how appearances can be so deceiving. Ruskov plied me with liquor and cigarettes" Kate shook her head at the tactics Ruskov tried "He wanted to know what was in the message and my access to what remains of the company besides other stuff" Kate said in a dull tone but he knew that she was just trying to emotionally disassociate herself from what happened.

"You don't have to tell me" he told her.

"Yeah, I do because I almost didn't make it back. I got lost on the ship" Kate said chuckling sardonically. "I can navigate a Helo in the air but put me on a ship and I'm bloody useless"

"You were drunk and ill-"

"Excuses" Kate said scathingly, her anger directed at herself not Mike for trying to give her an out.

"You said yourself that you hadn't had any SERE training for years. Don't beat yourself up because you're not Wonder Woman" he told her in a firm tone.

"Yeah tell me about it. But Evan should have prepared me for this. My association to that company and its work will follow me everywhere thanks to him." Kate said scathingly, he heard the anger and the hopelessness in her tone and for some reason he had a bad feeling she had been lying on the floor thinking about it long enough that she probably was going to say they not leave together because she was a liability. But he wasn't even going to let her try to talk herself out their plan.

"Only while we're on the Nathan James but once we leave, you can go by your maiden name again. No one will be the wiser, the intel will be on this ship and not on your person. If you wanted you could pick any name you wanted and pretend to be a stranded tourist" Mike told her.

"I guess that could work" Kate said, and he knew he had hit the bull's eye on what Kate had been thinking along with whatever else was going on in her head.

"It will, now give me your hand" Mike told her as he held out his hand to her. Kate looked at his hand for a moment and wondered if she could trust him but squashed the thought as Mike had never been anything but up front and honest with her. She couldn't remember him ever lying to her but then there had never been a need for it. She monkey gripped his hand and arm on offer to get better leverage. Mike rose to his feet and pulled up onto hers with ease.

He couldn't resist the chance to make her smile and tugged her forward into his arms. Kate rested her forehead onto his chest and gave a somewhat defeated sigh as he mindfully wrapped his arms around her taking care not to hold her too tightly given her injuries. He leaned his head down and inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo and felt her relax into him. A slight smile curved his lips as he moved one hand slowly down her back to the top of her yoga pants.

"Whoa, what's with the hand?" Kate asked him as she reared back to look at him. They had been in what she felt was a comforting embrace when Mike poorly tried to sneak one hand down the inside of pants and down her backside. Normally, she wouldn't complain except his hand was freaking cold and she was not in the mood. Yet.

"I was checking to see if you have a tail" he told her, he could barely keep a straight face.

"Maybe you should have warmed your hand up first buddy" Kate told him as she pinched his flank hard as she tried not to laugh. He winced and quickly retracted his hand from her lower back and grabbed her left hand to protect himself from further pinches. But as annoyed she was at making a joke in her expense she had to admit it was amusing.

"A tail could be fun" Mike remarked. Kate looked up at him a cheeky smile curved her lips.

"Really?" Kate asked in an insinuating manner, Mike looked up for the moment as if silently begging with a higher power to give him strength.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant for climbing around the place and smacking people upside the head with" he told her as he interlaced the fingers of her left hand with his right so she couldn't try to attack him.

"Uhuh" Kate said as she didn't believe him but decided to humour him.

"If it helps, I'll still love you even when you grow a tail" he joked the words slipped from his mouth without thought. Kate reared back looking a little alarmed and the playful banter that seemed to lighten Kate's mood dimmed somewhat.

"What?"Kate asked looking at him stunned.

"What?" he asked blankly, pretending he didn't see what the big deal was.

"You said you love me" Kate said with a smile. When they argued he said he 'loved' her and most of the time he just looked at her weirdly which she guessed meant he deeply cared for her or it could have indigestion from too much coffee. The latter seemed more likely given he practically mainlined the caffeine.

"It's not like I haven't said it before" he told feeling his neck grow warm from slight embarrassment as he could just see the cogs turning in her mind as she thought of how to tease him. He didn't mind being teased but it didn't stop him from being a little embarrassed for letting what he said come out of his mouth.

"Actuall-" she started to refute his claim when he cut her off.

"It was implied" he told her as if it made it easier. He couldn't help it that he wasn't the type of man to be vocal about his emotions. He preferred actions and there was a vulnerability of declaring one's emotions especially when it came to love.

With his children it was easy as they were so free with saying what they felt, the innocent naivety made it easy to respond in kind. Christina, in their younger days had been the same but their 'love' had slowly turned sour thanks to the contributing factors of reality affecting their ability to communicate. That and it had turned from being innocent and freeing to a game of chess. A very ugly game he could never win as he couldn't find it in himself to be as devious or manipulating as Christina was with him.

"But you never said it out loud using the actual words until right now" Kate pointed out but then their relationship had been based solely on sex that eventually turned into something more. The something more was their inability to stay detached from one another emotionally.

"Well I don't hear you replying with the same sentiment even though now it was more of a statement of intent than a declaration" Mike said arguing the semantics of his own words not that he didn't love her because he did. But what he liked was that she never pressured him to say it out loud.

"I said it to you five years ago" Kate said with a smile as if she was proud of herself, Mike gave her a condescending look.

"You said it during sex and everyone knows that doesn't count because it could be interpreted to mean that you love what I was doing to you" Mike argued with her, Kate wore a bright smile and her cheeks grew pink.

"Well I did really enjoy it and if it helps I will love you even when you go bald" Kate told him in a slightly mocking tone.

"Excuse me?" Mike asked her as he felt taken back by her statement. He had to stop his hand from reaching to touch his hair as she was attacking his vanity.

"Well you added the whole 'tail' thing. I thought it was acceptable to respond along the same lines" Kate said in a mocking tone.

"I'm not going bald" Mike told her adamantly even though it was a lie as he felt that halo patch starting at the back of his head. It was why he went with a crew cut hairstyle. He wasn't vain enough to attempt a comb over and if he did he would be mocked mercilessly for it.

"And I'm not planning on growing a tail. Doesn't change the sentiment behind the words" Kate told him in a mocking manner. "Now are you going to take me to bed?" Kate asked him, but she asked it as if they were going for a walk in a park.

"No, we're going to dinner first" he told her.

* * *

Later that evening,

Tom scrolled through the iphone rereading Kate's personnel file for had to be the third time. He had hoped it would give him some insight to who she was to better understand her actions and how she processed her situation.

But all it did was leave him feeling rather gobsmacked at how invasive and deeply personal the information in the file was. It was complete overkill and in his opinion made him wonder what kind of men Jack and Evan Lassiter were. It also made him blatantly aware that his earlier suspicions of Kate were wrong because he couldn't see the woman or anyone wanting such personal information free for anyone to read. That and because part of the medical trial was detailed report on the 'subject's' living conditions which for her had been casual flying lessons and basically being a house wife. Something about Kate didn't imbue images of a white picket fence and delicious roast but then she wasn't Tom's type and she was definitely a little too rough around the edges to be the stereotypical housewife.

But that aside he now understood why she had acted so raw and angry with him earlier that morning. He could only imagine how demoralising it must have been to be in Ruskov's presence. To have him request the information like Tom had in a less than friendly manner or in Ruskov's put her thoroughly in her place. He hadn't missed her less than conservative look and the fact that her wedding ring had been taken from her. Tom was probably lucky he wasn't Ruskov's type otherwise he would have had to endure more than the cynical conversations they had. He shuddered to think of how he'd look in the getup Kate had been put in. Dark olive green wasn't exactly his favourite colour.

But for all that he found that his problem was that he could only imagine what it was like to be in her shoes but even that gave him enough to know he hadn't been much better to her than Ruskov with exception of a few obvious inclinations he didn't share with the man. Tom knew he would have to apologise to her at some point but at the moment he didn't feel entirely sympathetic to do so. His father taught him that an empty apology was worse than the insult that started to mess. So he instead decided it was probably best to let dogs lie for a while longer with Kate. The least he could until then was treat her with a little more kindness than suspicion.

He scrubbed a hand down his face as he was exhausted to the bone and there was no light at the end of the tunnel to remind him that what they were doing was not in vain. That the weeks and months wasted would not lead to disappointment and heartache and he here was in an impossible situation where he was sailing blind but pretending that he knew exactly what he was doing and keeping hope. But all the while he felt the despair creeping into his mind, he like everyone else on this ship had family. The questions that pressed heavily on him; Would Dr Scott have a vaccine? And how much longer would it be before he relieved the crew of their duties on the ship, so that they could search for their own families? It was just the top two questions out the many circling around the ship. Answers he didn't have and frankly couldn't give as it meant making a promise he couldn't keep. He'd already broken enough promises.

* * *

The following morning,

Kate opened her eyes when she heard movement in the room, she didn't have to look far for the source to find Mike standing in his Navy dress whites. He was just pulling a slim shaped box from the top shelf when he turned to her. Light filtered in from the bathroom door that was partially open.

"I think it's a bit warm to sleep in that" Kate told him in a teasing manner, she had no idea what the time was but it had to be early in the morning.

Last night she had sat with Mike and they had dinner together in the wardroom before he escorted her back to his stateroom. He had helped her get ready for bed and made her down some water and pain killers before leaving her to report for Night Watch duty. Frankly she felt like they were teenagers who couldn't act on their feelings because they would get caught by their parents. It was also a little amusing and incredibly frustrating given that they had seen each other naked and engaged in many and varying pleasurable encounters to now act with such restraint. Well, Mike seemed to have the restraint and Kate was doing her best to adhere to his wishes as she liked the hope of knowing one day they would have more.

"Smart ass, Cosseti's funeral is in a couple of hours" he told her as he opened the box and pulled out his dress whites cap. He returned the box to its position before he moved to the bathroom to inspect the cap.

"Need me to shine buttons, straighten bars, tug on your jacket and pull on your sleeves?" Kate asked him as she watched him move around the small space with ease which was slightly amusing given how big he was.

"I'm fine, you should go back to sleep" he told her. The cap must have passed muster as Mike tucked it under his arm.

"I'm a little disappointed that I missed out on the strip show. I could of hit up the Dispensary office for some singles and sing 'you can leave your hat on'. " Kate offered teasingly. She stretched her legs out and pointed her toes as her body was slowly waking up and begging to be moved. She then swung them over the edge of the bed and awkwardly pushed herself upright before rising to her feet and standing in Mike's way.

"You're just a joke a minute" Mike told her as he didn't seem to mind her standing in his way for the moment.

"It's how I cope." She reminded him, it would have been funny if it weren't so true. He placed the cover on the bed for a moment and looked down at her.

"I know" he said as he tilted her head back a fraction of an inch with both hands. He then leaned in and kissed her softly, almost reverently. Kate closed her eyes, letting the sensation of his lips on hers wash over her, carrying her away. But before she lost herself entirely in the kiss he broke his lips away from hers and stepped back.

"I have to go" he said as he picked up his cap. Kate gave a nod and stepped to the side letting him pass.

"I'll see you later" she told him. She heard him leave the stateroom and moved to the bathroom. She turned off the light and went back to bed to sleep for a little longer.

* * *

A couple hours later,

"How are we gonna ask them to do this?" Tom asked Mike and Jeter, the funeral had ended over 15 minutes ago and while the deck was being cleaned and most of the crew had dispersed returning to their quarters to change and to go back to duty or whatever they had planned for their free time. Tom stood to the side with Jeter and Mike to have a quick meeting to get an update on what was happening in regards to Dr Scott's work only to be somewhat surprised and hesitant by the news.

"We don't have the time or resources to recruit from anywhere else." Mike said pragmatically as he and Jeter had already discussed the logistics of what Dr Scott wanted to do for her trial and how they would be able to meet majority of her demands.  
"I know, but six people?" Tom asked, he had been buried in the information Kate had provided from Lassiter Industries that he had lost focus on Dr Scott's work. He knew Rachel had talked at him in great length about her plans but if he were honest he hadn't paid attention to most of it and the way she talked he had assumed the number would higher than six.

"She doesn't have the equipment to sustain a quarantine for more than a few days, which is just enough time for one trial with as many people as she can fit into that lab. She wants to repeat the trial with a different cross section of the crew and Lassiter but it depends on the results of the first trial and our resources" Mike informed him. Tom nodded and as digested the information. He remembered Rachel talking about this and how they would need volunteers. He wasn't going to order anyone to submit to the trial, it was a line he wasn't willing to cross but he couldn't stand back and not volunteer himself.

"Well, then I have to volunteer." Tom said as if it were a foregone conclusion. Mike reared back slightly at his statement whilst Jeter remained his usual calm manner.  
"We just risked everything to save your sorry ass so that you could lead." Mike told him indignantly as Tom's flagrant disregard for his own life felt like a slander against the crew for even bothering to save him. As if all their efforts had been for nothing.

"What kind of message does that send? You got rank, you can sit it out? Everyone else can be the guinea pigs?" Tom argued, he could tell by the look on Mike's face that he was ready to fight on this one but before either of them could do so Jeter spoke.

"Captain's right. Someone from a leadership position needs to volunteer to set an example which is why I already had do a work-up on me. Apparently I check off a few of the boxes she needs African-American, male over 40 - Southern baptist." Jeter said the last part with a smile as he was a man of faith and held no shame in advertising it. It was something Mike always felt envious of as he wished he had the man's strong sense of faith and steadfast confidence as they walked hand in hand. He seemed to have the ability to calm the crew just by standing in the room.

"Master chief." Mike started but Jeter cut him off.

"With all due respect, gentlemen, it's already been done. And you don't even know if you qualify." Jeter said as he looked between the two of them.

"The crew needs you, In some ways, more than either one of us." Tom argued, it was something he and Mike could agree on.

"I appreciate the sentiment, sir, but you both know we're all needed." Jeter paused weighing his words carefully "And we're all dispensable." Jeter finished. They all took a moment letting Jeter's word sink in as he was right, none of them deserved special treatment but the argument they seemed to be having was more about who would volunteer first only to have Jeter beat them to it.

"All right" Tom said, breaking the silence. He looked to Mike and Jeter but more so on Mike "Spread the word we need volunteers. Let the crew know it'll be completely confidential. I don't want anyone feeling pressured." Tom told him. Mike gave a nod knowing when he was being dismissed but also glad to get out of the sun as it was starting to get hot even for this early in the morning.

"Aye, sir." Mike said as he took his leave from the conversation. He headed for the closest door as he was first going to get out of his dress whites and into his usual outfit of BDU's. If he was lucky, he could catch Kate for a few minutes and take her to breakfast before his day started.


	35. Chapter 35

_A/N: As always thank you for the reviews and for everyone who is still following and hopefully still enjoying the story! Please continue to enjoy and have safe and happy holidays!_

* * *

**Chapter 35**

* * *

"Red" Tex said in surprise as they bumped into one another just outside the wardroom. He opened the door and gestured for her to go first.

"Thank you" Kate said to be polite as she stepped inside the wardroom. The fresh aroma of powdered eggs, bacon and other breakfast food being prepared and cooked filled the air in a delicious menagerie of scents making Kate's mouth water and her stomach rumble in hunger.

The main room and table were empty as majority of the crew attending Cossetti's funeral leaving only skeleton crew on duty to man the ship and perform other duties. She heard noises from the galley and knew the kitchen staff were in full cooking mode. She walked over to the tea station to make herself a tea when a member of the kitchen stuck his head out noting she and Tex were there before disappearing into the room.

Tex moved to the coffee station and made himself a coffee, the silence that hung between them was awkward and apprehensive as neither was willing to start where they left off and even though Kate had gotten over their tiff. She knew Tex was not as he liked to argue things to death, she blamed it on his proclivity to be overly sentimental and with a never ending need to have closure that ended with them hugging. It was something she coined to be an 'Americanism' because if they were Australian; he would have bought her a beer and it would be forgotten about without delving into the 'deeper unknown' to source the argument and talking about reasons and getting in touch with their feelings.

"So have you donated your blood and signed up for guinea pig duty for the human trial phase?" Tex asked breaking the silence, pretending as if the argument they had over a day ago never happened. Kate decided to pretend right along with him.

"Injuries precluded me from that joy" Kate remarked dryly as she didn't want to get into the true reason she was already vetoed for the trial. If Tex didn't know then she wasn't going to tell him.

"How's the arm?" he asked as they moved to the table and took up two chairs.

"Still attached" Kate replied in a dry tone. It had not been easy getting up by herself this morning. She knew Mike would have come back to get changed out of his dress whites. Something she would definitely have enjoyed watching but hunger and the need for more pain killers motivated her enough to get out of bed.

She had changed into the same shirt from yesterday but left on the ¾ leggings underneath and walked barefoot. She knew Mike would have a fit about it being an 'O,H &amp; S issue' but she didn't have a choice as she had not mastered the art of tying her shoe laces with one hand and bending forward with her broken ribs was too painful. So she figured she had a couple of hours to eat and get back to the stateroom before Mike reappeared. If she could manage that, then he would be none the wiser and she could enjoy the show. As it was all she was going to get for who knows how long.

"Always a good start" Tex said, he watched Kate noticing she was much quieter than normal and it wasn't an 'I'm pissed off at you' silent treatment thing either. He'd been on the receiving end of the silent treatment to know the difference. No, she was exhausted and obviously out of it given she was walking around barefoot and looking bedraggled. "You sleeping alright?" he asked her.

"Yep. Are you? cause you must be feeling pretty worn out. Didn't you and the Captain take a long swim together?" Kate asked him, trying to keep the conversation focused on him so he wouldn't try to head-shrink her. There was not enough beer on the ship to even get her to open up about it.

"Yeah, it was a good workout but nothing a good sleep didn't fix. Speaking of things needing to be fixed, where are your shoes?" Tex asked her using her own tactic against her.

"Not on my feet" Kate remarked in an amused tone as she couldn't be bothered telling him the real reason and she had a feeling it wouldn't matter. She thanked the crewman who placed a bowl of porridge with a spoon in front of her.

"I noticed that-" Tex started but Kate cut him off as she could feel the argument brewing between and wanted to eat porridge than shout at Tex.

"Before you start our argument or try to talk to me about my decision to go to the Vyerni. Please remember I have one fully functioning hand. I might be right handed but it doesn't mean my left hand won't break your face." she warned him and then she gestured to the maple syrup. "Could you pass me the maple syrup please?" Kate asked casually before he could say a word.

"You know you're incredibly infuriating" Tex told her as he passed the maple syrup to her, she took it and splashed a generous amount on her porridge.

"It's a part of my many charms" Kate told him as she pulled out the orange container of pain killers she had tucked into her sling. She popped the lid off and shook a tablet onto the table before capping the lid and putting the container back into her sling.

"Don't remember Jack saying that" Tex said in a droll tone, she knew he was only half serious but his words made her stomach turn and her anger flare. Normally she'd be fine with it but right now she felt like nothing was sacred any more. She dry swallowed a tablet and then took a tentative sip of her tea to wash it down.

"Apparently Jack liked to talk out of school. Did you know he and Ruskov were friends?" Kate asked as she scooped up a spoonful of porridge. She purposefully kept her tone light and conversational as if they were talking about something innocuous. Tex noticeably became uncomfortable at the question.

"No" he lied as the crewman came out with a serve of breakfast for him. Once the steward was gone and Kate swallowed her first bite of her porridge she looked at Tex. She knew he was lying because he answered a little too quickly and too firmly for her to believe his word.

"You and Jack were friends for years, travelled together, served in the same unit at one point and you're telling me you didn't know he had a friend in Russia and who that person was?" Kate asked him in a no nonsense tone as part of her couldn't believe that he wouldn't have known as he and Jack were near inseparable. She gave him a hard look and watched as his expression grew stony, it wasn't like he had to tell her the truth nor did she have a right to know.

"I meet him once for about 4 seconds. Barely said 'Boo' to the man, never saw him again and it was years ago" Tex said in a low voice. He kept his tone and gaze steady that she believed him but part of her was a little disappointed in him because she wanted him to be completely compartmentalised in Jack's world like she had been. But he wasn't.

"That's it?" Kate asked him in as calm a voice as she could maintain as she really wanted to shout at him at how unfair it was for them both to have known Jack and her to be painted as a criminal whilst he got to play the happy go lucky soldier of fortune befriending the Captain.

"Look, I didn't know his name or his rank when I met him. He was just 'Nikolai' one of Jack's contacts. It's not a big deal" Tex said with a shrug downplaying it.

"Then why did you lie to me a minute ago?" Kate asked she could help but be a little petulant given what he told her and how casual he acted about it.

"Cause it's not the kind of news I want the crew or the Captain to know. Anyway, Ruskov didn't remember me and it isn't relevant nor is it now given that the Vyerni was sunk" Tex replied before he took a long sip of his coffee.

"And that makes it so much better?" Kate asked sarcastically. She knew it was argument that had no perceivable winner.

"You know how many friends, business associates and informants Jack had?" Tex asked her in a defensive manner and he didn't blame him for fighting back at her. As she would have done the same, just realising that made her bone weary and she sagged into her chair with a defeated sigh.

"No as I apparently knew nothing about my husband and like I said before he didn't mind sharing intimate information about me to anyone who was willing to listen" Kate said the words stung but they were true. Tex sat back in his chair as pity replaced his anger.

"He was proud of you-" Tex started to defend Jack but Kate cut him off.

"He practically gave Ruskov and God only knows who else personal details of my life without my permission" Kate paused as it felt useless to even bring up "I don't want to talk about this any more" Kate said, she had felt the emotions of fear, panic, sadness and angry roll inside her guts which made her nauseous enough to want upend her stomach that second.

"I don't know what Ruskov told you. But I know for a fact that Jack loved you" Tex said sincerely. Kate scoffed at how cliché Tex sounded, tears burned her eyes because she wanted to tell him the truth that Jack didn't love her because if he had, then he wouldn't have ridden his motorcycle like a demon through red lights. If Jack had loved her he wouldn't have used her in some sort of scientific experiment and he wouldn't have made her inherit his shares of the company. But Jack always did things his way as did his brother Evan.

"Whatever, let's just drop this subject as I want to keep my breakfast down" Kate said as she persisted with her breakfast as she needed the food.

"Red-" Tex started to implore her but she didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to just let it all go and forget about it. So she did the next best thing and changed the topic.

"Tell me how's the mission to woo Dr Scott going?" Kate asked, Tex dropped his head back and groaned in frustration, she wondered if it was Rachel who was frustrating him or her inability to finish a conversation he wanted to have. He lifted his head back and gave a sigh with a shrug.

"I've moving her furniture this morning and before you ask that isn't a euphemism for something more entertaining" he informed her. Kate smiled as she looked down at her porridge as she could tell the man it was a lost cause but knew it wouldn't deter him. Tex liked the chase.

"You losing your magic touch with the ladies?" Kate asked teasingly.

"She's a challenge" Tex admitted begrudgingly which made her chuckle as Tex was never one to have issues finding company of the female variety.

"Just how you like them" Kate quipped with a wry smile.

"Just once, I'd like to have something go easy for me" He told her, Kate made a derisive noise.

"Yeah me too" she commiserated before eating a spoonful of porridge.

* * *

An hour later, Kate slipped back into Mike's stateroom and awkwardly pushed the door closed before securing it. She gave a sigh of relief to be back in the quiet space that had become her sanctuary of sorts.

Whilst neither her nor Tex apologised to one another for the argument they had had or the words that were said; they had met an unspoken agreement to not to bring it up. Evidence of which had been the slightly stilted conversation over breakfast that ended with him trying to help her only for her to give him her best 'don't coddle me' look. He had backed off and let her go on her way but since she was crashing in Mike's place she had to wait for him to leave first. She couldn't imagine Tex's opinion of her sleeping in Mike's quarters.

Knowing him, he'd make some argument that Mike was the one bending her mind and trying to ruin her memories of Jack and question her dead husband's character. But sadly that was all her fault. She had no one to blame and frankly she was tired of being so bent out of shape about it. It wasn't like she could change the past or even change Jack. He was dead and she was now left with his legacy. It was just a shame his legacy couldn't have been something a little less destructive for her.

Exhaustion dragged her down as just thinking about her situation drained what little energy she had. She realised that she was going to have to let it go of her frustration and anger at Jack and Evan as it was useless and right now it felt like it was going to tear her apart. She also knew she was projecting her anger at Tom which was not going to be conducive for a long term friendship for her survival or Mike's position on the ship. She couldn't put him in the position of having to side with her or Tom.

It was unnecessary and first priority of Mike's life was his kids and no way in hell would she get in the way of that. She hadn't 5 years ago and wasn't going to start now. She moved to bed and groaned as she flopped back onto the mattress. She lifted her feet off the ground and shift on the bed until she was in a more comfortable position as her body relaxed and looked at the ceiling. She listened to the sounds of the ship and closed her eyes, drifting off into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Mike was relieved to make it back to his stateroom and get out of his dress whites and into his BDU's before he addressed the crew. He closed the door behind him and moved to the bedroom, the door was opened and the lights were on in both rooms which surprised him. He stopped at the doorway and smiled as he took in the scene. Kate was fast asleep on the bed in what most people called the 'soldier' pose as she laid on her back with her left arm down the side of her body as her right arm was across her chest still in the sling. The blanket and top sheet were tangled up in her legs and half covering her torso.

She was so completely relaxed; something he envied as he wasn't getting much sleep at all and it wasn't because she was taking up his bed. It was due to the gruelling schedule he set for himself, part him felt the harder he worked then the quicker they would get home. The quicker he would get to searching for his kids. He wondered for a moment how Kate would fit into that picture. They hadn't really discussed it. He had talked about his kids but he never knew what her stance on kids was.

Did she like kids? Would she accept and love his children or just acknowledge they were a packaged deal? Would she want a child of her own in addition to his? That question made him slightly nervous as he wasn't too sure if he wanted another child. Just thinking about it gave him mixed feelings as he hadn't grieved Lucas' death but then he had a role on the ship to play and it wasn't the grieving father. He quickly shook the thoughts away as it wasn't an issue yet and given their situation it would probably be a while before it became one for a long time. For now he needed to focus on what he had to do and that was get changed and back to work.

He pushed off the doorway and moved to the wardrobe. He started undoing the buttons of the Jacket and just as he was about to shrug out of it he heard the tune of 'You can leave your hat on' being hummed from the bed. Mike couldn't help but smile as shrugged out of the jacket and hung it up on a coat hanger before he turned around to Kate.

"Hilarious" he told her with a faint smile on his lips as he didn't want to encourage her.

"It made you smile" she told him as she shifted her body into a more comfortably position under the sheet and yawned. She purposefully didn't ask about the funeral, not because she didn't care but because she knew there were no words to say and 'hey how was the funeral' seemed like a rather redundant question. She also knew to expect Mike and the crew to be in a solemn mood for the rest of the day as they mourned the loss of a fallen soldier.

The sad part was she felt majority of their pain was more about the blatant reminder of how bleak their situation was and even more so for those who had had no contact with their families and that it could easily be one them who be next in line for a funeral after Cossetti.

"I figured you'd have been gone by now for breakfast" Mike said as he fixed the jacket on the hanger and did up the buttons. Grateful he didn't have to talk about the funeral as he preferred to focus on what he could do and whilst Cossetti's death was in part his fault, it fell under the heading as a 'burden of command'.

"I had breakfast but wasn't feeling so crash hot afterwards. So I came back and laid down" Kate told him. Mike immediately stopped what he was doing and moved to her. He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned over her as he pressed a hand to her forehead and then under her chin checking her temperature. He didn't want to take any chances that she might have a possible infection from her injuries.

"Nausea? Fever?" he asked her concerned for her and for his own sanity.

"No, just really tired" Kate informed him as she allowed him to run through a check list of symptoms.

"Headaches?" he asked her.

"I might get one if you don't calm down soon" She told him wryly, he gave her a disapproving look as he moved to check her arm for some strange reason. She placed a hand over his to stop him. "I'm fine, I just need to sleep that's all" Kate said to him gently reassuring him. She lifted his hand with hers so as to stop him from probing her bruised arm. She only took half a normal dosage of pain killers so while the pain was dull. It didn't mean it was completely gone.

"Ok, but if you need Rios or Doctor Scott then tell me immediately" Mike told her.

"I will, now finished getting changed or better yet get naked and join me in bed" Kate said her eyes lighting up at the notion of option number two. "For sleeping only and I promise to keep my hands above the waist" she lied but he smiled none the less as he knew she was inventive and chose her words carefully. So when she said she'd keep her hands above the waist didn't clarify whose waist they would be above or the positions of their bodies.

"I'm sorely tempted" he said as both the idea of a few hours of pleasure and even sleep if she kept her word sounded like a good idea right now given how comfortable and enticing Kate made his bed look with her in it.

But sadly neither was an option as he had to find Jeter and rally the crew for the announcement that Dr Scott needed volunteers for the first human trial of her vaccine. It was easier to address the crew as a group than play 'Chinese whispers'.

He still didn't think it was fair that Jeter usurped him and the Captain at being in the trial. Mike wasn't exactly tickled pink by the idea of volunteering himself but he would have done it. But Jeter got there before him and ticked boxes that Mike and even Tom couldn't on the list of patient preferences.

"So?" she asked him as she pressed a kiss to the back of his hand. "Want to join me in bed?" Kate asked him wriggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"Not today" He told her. Kate made a face as she didn't like his answer and he didn't blame her as he didn't like it either.

"You know one day you'll you cave" Kate told him in a smug manner as she reluctantly released his hand and ran it through her sleep mussed hair.

"Yeah and as much I'd love to sleep for a few hours I can't. I have work" he told her, as he moved back to the minuscule wardrobe and went back to getting changed. Kate nodded in understanding even though she seriously wanted to order him to sleep as she knew he needed more than a couple of hours of sleep. He had to be exhausted, she was exhausted just thinking of how many hours he spent a day running around the ship and sitting in his chair on the bridge being alert and doing whatever he did.

"This is why I never joined the Navy. All work, no play. That and the pay was way better in the Army" Kate said mockingly as she watched him get changed not even pretending to give him some privacy by looking away. But then it seemed ridiculous given that she had already seen him naked numerous times and frankly she was enjoying the view. It only seemed fair she get a show since he helped her get changed in and out of her clothes.

"I highly doubt that considering the exchange rate" Mike told her, Kate groaned dramatically as it was one of their old yet amusing arguments where they would argue over who's turn it was to pay for the hotel room or for dinner.

At the start they always paid half on everything but after while the lines became blurred and Kate argued she should pay as she was single and her pay check was disposable money compared to his which was tied up for the foreseeable for his kids. But he refused to be a 'kept' man and his mother raised a gentleman. An argument had ensued and it had been funny compared to the angst ridden and painful arguments he had with Christina.

Kate had smiled and offered a quick solution that they both wrote down roughly how much they made and whoever made the most would pay for the expensive part of their time together be it the room service bill or the hotel itself. So he humoured her. As he knew a Lieutenant Commander with the bonuses he received for his years of service earned more than a Captain but he had been wrong.

He was wrong because hadn't accounted for the fact that she was an officer and a helicopter pilot for over a decade, who was proficient in 4 languages and then she added in that she was sometimes subcontracted for missions that were technically 'off the books' and she was given 'hazard' pay for her time. Then one added in the yearly bonus for 'service' and the fact she got added bonus for her 'capabilities' the Army gave her to retain her services as a pilot... well the figure she wrote nearly made Mike fall out of bed when he saw how much she earned compared to him. The only way he could have won the argument was by pulling a move his own mother would have been proud of by saying to be fair they had to convert it into the local currency which had been British Pounds. He won out by 10 pence and from every visit after that he playfully rubbed it in and she took it in her stride.

"Can't let me have anything today, can you?" Kate asked him, there was a hopeful hint to her tone.

"I can help you put your shoes on" he told her as he pulled off his white t-shirt.

"So generous" Kate replied dryly, Mike chuckled as he picked up his dark navy blue shirt and pulled it on.

"Can't have you running around barefoot and I think some fresh air and sunshine will do you some good" he told her, he wondered if maybe her fatigue had to do with a lack of Vitamin D as well as her injuries.

"Yes, Sir" Kate gave a mock salute "And you know what I'll even have a shower today" she said teasingly.

"That would be good" he told her, Kate pulled the pillow from behind her head and threw it at him but he caught it in time. He gave her a patronising look of 'really?' and she just smiled.

"Come on, I'll escort you topside and make sure you don't fall overboard" Mike told her as he tossed the pillow onto the bed beside her and then gestured for her to move up.

"But I want to sleep" Kate complained as she pulled her knees up. Mike sat down on the bed and proceeded to pull his boots on.

"You can sleep later, right now I think some sunshine and air would do you come good" he told her as he tied his laces and turned to face her.

"On one condition" she said as she stretched out her legs behind him.

"This isn't a negotiation" he told her as he placed his hands on the mattress to leverage himself as he leaned over her.

"Yes, it is" Kate told him.

"I'll drag you from this bed" he told her as he looked down at her, he felt the pleasurable push-pull tension of attraction between them, he knew all it took was for one of them to cave in but right it's was the anticipation that made him smile as well as the fact that Kate was goading him.

"I bet everyone would love the show" Kate said her eyes bright and her smile teasing but he knew better.

"Fine, what do you want?" he asked her playing it her way but he was going to get her out of bed and out for some fresh air, sunlight and light exercise. It would help aid her recovery more than just sleeping the days away in his stateroom.

"You in this bed tonight for 8 uninterrupted hours" Kate told him. He gave her a look like she asking too much. "For sleep, I promise I will not do anything but lay here beside you and sleep." Kate said, when Mike's look turned to one of disbelief "Ok, you'll be asleep and I'll either be zonked out on drugs or laying here imaging dirty things but I'll act as a lady" she added.

"No" he told her. He knew if he shared a bed with her, well they wouldn't be able to keep their hands to one another and that fine line of not fraternising would definitely be crossed. He was trying to make sure when Tom asked or more likely accused him of fraternisation he could say he didn't have any sexual relations on the ship.

"Then I guess you're dragging me out. The poor, battered woman-" Kate started but he cut her off.

"Fine, 2 hours" he told her as he wasn't going to drag her out of bed which meant she was serious about getting him to actually sleep in his bed.

"I said 8" Kate told him in a firm tone that said it was non-negotiable. There was no way he'd get 8 hours of uninterrupted hours of time let alone sleep. But then he never slept long hours while on the Nathan James. It was the buzzing noises and knowing someone would radio that kept him sleeping light and in short blocks of time.

"2 is all you get and you can vacate the stateroom" he told her in the same tone.

"6 hours because 2 hours is barely enough time to get comfortable and you're sleeping with me. I don't trust you to keep your word" Kate countered lowering her previous offer. He couldn't believe they were negotiating terms for him to sleep in his own bed.

"3 hours and are you questioning my word?" he asked her pretending to be insulted.

"Yeah, I am when it comes to you looking after yourself. Do you know what sleep deprivation does to the mind? 5 hours" Kate said.

"3 hours and I'm well aware" he said firmly even though inside he was enjoying this bargaining session. He spent majority of his time being a figure of authority so this right here and now was a welcome distraction from his work and the outside world. It only reminded him why he wanted to keep being around Kate.

"5 hours, my last offer and when you drag me out I'm going to scream so loudly they'll hear me in the engine room" Kate warned him. She gave him a serious look that said she would do as she warned. Something he knew well about Kate was that she usually kept her word, he looked to the alarm clock on the bedside table and took note of the time. He sadly needed to wrap up their chat so he could get back to work.

"Fine, 5 hours" he conceded but only because he had to get them moving and he knew he could get away with just waiting until she was fast asleep and then slipping out of bed. The idea of lying down next to her for just one evening and blocking out the world for a couple hours sounded like heaven. A temporary but much needed one at the moment. He watched as she smiled at her small victory what he wouldn't have given to kiss that smile off her lips but he knew if he did that then they would lose track of time.

"I look forward to it" Kate told him.

"Good, now you'll have to get up and let's be quick about it. I have work" He told her as he reluctantly pushed away from the bed to leave.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

* * *

A couple of hours later,

Mike stood next Tom watching as Doctor Scott, Tophett and Rios sat at three separate tables on one side of the room conducting interviews and on the other stood most of the crew. They were waiting for their chance to volunteer. He was surprised at the turn out but then many of them looked incredibly reluctant which made him wonder if might of accidently delivered his speech about volunteering to sound like an order. But then all of them would walk over broken glass to make Tom proud of them. So he didn't dwell on it because as far as he was concerned it should have been compulsory to save time and aggravation but he understood the reason behind not making it an order.

"I still asked Dr Scott test my blood" Tom said in a low voice to him. Mike felt his mood darken as he really wanted to shake his friend and remind him that he was the Captain and needed to start acting like it.

"And?" Mike asked keeping his tone calm as he could, he thought of the short walk he had taken with Kate before he had to gather the crew and tell them what was going on. Remembering her smile on her pale face and how the sun lit up her red hair making it shine calmed him somewhat.

"Apparently, she is in agreement with you that I should sit out this trial. How's Lassiter?" Tom asked him casually even though he looked somewhat put out by being told what not to do. Mike gave a shrug and acted casual as he could even though he was concerned about her.

"Ok, a little frustrated with the sling and bruised ribs." Mike said, he left out that she was exhausted as it was obvious she would be tired. They had only taken a brief walk on the deck before Kate had needed to return back to his stateroom to lie back down. Kate assured him she would be fine but it didn't assuage his concern even though he knew she would be fine. It was just so rare for Kate to actually ask for help or show her vulnerable side to anyone. So when it happened he wanted to be there for her.

"I can imagine" Tom said as there was nothing he could really say.

"She should be fine in a week" Mike told him in a casual tone as he didn't need Tom reading into what he said and making accusations. As it would only piss him off and he wasn't in the mood to fight with Tom.

"And out of your stateroom" Tom said in a low tone, Mike said nothing as he knew Tom was baiting him and it was best not to respond. They lapsed into silence as they watched the interviews be conducted before them, the doctors were asking standard questions about the person's medical history.

"I never expected this many." Tom said to Mike after a few minutes of neither them speaking passed.

"Me either" Mike lied as he knew majority if not all of the crew would show up. They had to, to show unity and fealty to Tom.

"I think after this I should speak with Lassiter" Tom said.

"That's your business" Mike told him, he was not going to be a go between for Tom and Kate and he definitely wasn't going to take sides.

"I want you to be there" Tom said, Mike turned and looked at him oddly as he didn't know why he would be needed there.

"I'm not going to act as a buffer between you two" he told him as he felt the need to make it clear to Tom. He just hoped he didn't have to say the same to Kate but he was sure she understood where his priorities were.

"I don't expect you to" Tom replied keeping his facial expression calm as they both had to keep the appearances of a united front for the crew.

"Good, because I choose the ship over the both of you" Mike told him with a faint but wry smile. Tom looked slightly disgruntled by the comment.

"Nice to know where I stand but if you chose the Nathan James over me then why am I here?" he asked.

"I was outvoted. So I figure why not indulge the crew before they turn mutinous on me" Mike said mockingly. "Anyway, I don't think Kate will be up for that meeting you wanted today" Mike said as Kate had been pretty tired when he left her in his stateroom after their work.

"Why not?" Tom asked. Mike gave him an odd look as he thought it was obvious.

"She's exhausted and apparently not the only one given you just asked me that question" Mike remarked.

"Right" Tom said with a sigh as Mike was right. They were all running short on sleep and Kate was the only one who seemed to have the time to get sleep while the rest of them suffered. "I guess that in combination with whatever meds Dr Scott gave her would explain her little meltdown yesterday" Tom remarked.

"I think you were lucky her arm was busted" Mike commented dryly as he like Tom continued to watch the scene playing out before them.

"How so?" Tom asked.

"I think she would have knocked you on your arse instead of using her words" Mike drawled sarcastically, Tom smiled as he found the comment amusing if not a little worrisome.

"Then maybe I should talk with her about her husband's company and Ruskov before she's off the meds and recovered mobility of her right arm" Tom said half jokingly.

"Probably not a bad idea" Mike replied in a half serious tone.

* * *

A few hours later,

"Shouldn't you knock and make sure she has time to get decent?" Tom asked as he and Mike stood in the office area of Mike's stateroom. Mike had moved to open the sliding door to his sleeping area when Tom stopped him with the question.

They had stood and watched nearly every crew member get interviewed for the trial and then sat with the Doctors as they culled the 200 or so applicants down to 20 possible candidates that would have to submit for blood tests.

The only reason they had sat in was to see who was making the cut as it would affect the running of ship and they needed to be prepared as majority who made the cut were from critical areas of ship like engineering and CIC. After Mike had the people called in for their blood tests, he and Tom made their way to his stateroom to talk with Kate.

Tom knew what he wanted to talk about could wait but decided he'd rather get it over with as he was pretty sure Mike was serious about Kate punching him. Considering the woman had nearly slit his throat on reflex and took down a Russian twice her size. Well, Tom knew not to mess with her and he'd rather they became copacetic than let her anger towards him fester into something dangerous.

"What do you think she's doing in there?" Mike asked him with a frown as he seemed to be trying to keep a straight face as he seemed to find Tom's reticence amusing.

Tom couldn't help but be uncomfortable because he didn't really know what the score was between Mike and Kate. Not like he expected Mike's bedroom to have turned into a den of inequity but Mike had not once in their years had a woman in his bed on the Nathan James or offered his stateroom up to a guest. Something Tom never minded as like he they needed their private space. Their roles on the ship were 24/7, they had to project a certain image and energy to crew which meant they needed their own space to decompress and relax. A place where they could deal with their own doubts, concerns or other emotions without it affecting ship's morale.

"I don't know her that well" Tom said lamely as he didn't know what to expect but he knew he didn't want to see her naked.

"Kate was decent when I left her. I highly doubt that's changed" Mike said dryly as he opened the door and stepped into the room. Tom, much to his relief saw Kate was fully clothed lying on her back taking up the whole bed with her legs and left arm spread out.

Mike looked down at Kate and assumed that she must have taken some pain killers as the water bottle on the bedside table was half empty as it sat next to the orange bottle that contained the meds Dr Scott supplied her. That and because she hadn't so much as twitched when he opened the door. He stepped into the room and looked down at Kate for a moment and shook his head as she was still breathing shallowly. Her breathing was so shallow she practically looked like she wasn't breathing at all. So just make sure he allowed his hand and pressed two fingers to her carotid artery.

"She's out cold but still alive" Mike told Tom in a normal level of voice. Not bothering to speak in hushed tone as he felt Kate's steady pulse. Inwardly he was half relieved but also trying hard not to laugh as he wondered how many times he was going to check her pulse just to make sure she was still alive only to find she was alive and asleep.

Tom stood at the doorway and looked unimpressed as Mike continued his own checklist to see if Kate was alright.

"Great, maybe we should get Doc to stop giving her the hardcore pain meds so I can have a proper conversation with her" Tom grumbled as he watched Mike pressed the back of his hand to Kate's forehead checking her temperature before readjusting the blanket and sheet over Kate to make her comfortable. The scene made him uncomfortable as it seemed rather intimate even if it was innocent and innocuous. But it only reminded him that Mike and Kate had history and it was obvious the two hadn't gotten over it. It was also obvious that the change of heart from being bitter and angry with one another was developing into dangerous territory.

"I don't think the meds are the problem. It's the broken ribs and busted arm. You want me to try and wake her up?" Mike asked but there was no way in hell he was going to shake Kate awake unless the ship was sinking. He picked up the orange container and turned it on its side counting the pills, noting that she had only had one tablet since last night. He felt slightly relieved to know she wasn't in some drug induced sleep, so he could wake her up but it would take some effort.

"No, let her sleep. I don't want to add anything more to my list of offences in regards to her" Tom said pushing away from the door frame.

* * *

The rest of the day disappeared quickly as it always did on the ship but today Mike felt like he was stretched incredibly thin. He had spent majority of his time making sure that every department was squared away as two of their senior staff members were going to be in the trial. It was the sad truth about junior officers like Miller, Gibson and Forster was they were just cogs in the machine, easily replaced whereas Jeter and Garnett had years of experience and expertise that just couldn't be replicated or easily replaced.

But they didn't have a choice and Jeter was right they couldn't just exempt the more experienced crewmembers because in the long term they would be more valuable. Thus was why Mike kept his opinion to himself and stood beside Tom as they looked at the six test subjects for the first human trial of Dr Scott's vaccine prototype.

Tex, Garnett, Forster, Jeter, Gibson and Miller all stood in a line in front of the Makeshift lab that had been converted into mini hospital quarantine space. The younger members of the trial looked nervous as Dr Rios and Dr Scott injected them with a red liquid while Garnett, Jeter and Tex looked relatively relaxed as if they were just going for R&amp;R.

Tophett sat on a stool next to a table that was covered in medical equipment and had a clipboard in his lap. He was writing down the times of each injection or so Mike assumed as the man's handwriting was abysmal. He looked around the room trying not to fidget as he was impatient to go check on Kate. He had wanted to check on her a couple hours ago but time got away from him and he knew for a fact she hadn't had lunch as he checked with the kitchen staff when he stopped by for a quick coffee.

He should have sent a crewmember to check on her but frankly he didn't want to make it a big deal. But right now given that he was running on too much caffeine and little to no sleep and food; he was ready for a break. But he couldn't take one as they were at a pivotal moment.

"So you've just received what we're calling the prototype decoy. It will, uh, bind to the virus and keep it occupied while your system creates the antibodies that it needs to defeat it." Rachel told the group in front of her. "I will remind you that you will likely experience some side effects similar to the early stages of the virus, so some headaches and fever and exhaustion." She reiterated as she wanted them to remain calm and not feel like they had signed their death certificate at the first signs of the symptoms. She felt incredibly nervous and tried to keep it contained under a well practiced veneer as she wanted them to be confident of her and her work.

"Just like a good hangover." Tex quipped injecting some much needed levity into the situation, he smiled at Rachel and she appreciated his well timed humour as it saved her from babbling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your entertainment for the next three days" Tom said, his voice catching her attention, reminding her of his and Commander Slattery's presence in the room. She gave a closed lip smile as she looked down for a moment finally allowing the gravity of the situation sink into her. She took a deep breath and looked up at the group of people before her. Most of them were smiling at the humour from Tex and Tom, while others looked nervous and slightly reserved. She didn't blame them.

"I would just like to say that you are all" Rachel paused as she felt overwhelmed by their bravery and their confidence in her. "You're remarkable people and It is an honour to-" She stopped as she nearly choked on the what she wanted to say. So instead of trying to say what she wanted to, she said in a reverent manner. "It's an honour." She gave them a closed lip smile as she tamped down on the emotions rolling within her. "Well, I'll see you in there." She told them and then left them to get changed into her hazmat suit.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Mike came into his stateroom and moved to the bedroom. He and Tom had been standing in the room watching the six people for signs of trouble but so far they all seemed fine. Dr Scott and the others were calm and prepared for anything as they kept taking notes on their patients and taking their vitals. So he and Tom left for a quick dinner. After the dinner, Tom had gone back down to the Helo bay to continue watching the trial but Mike had come here because he wasn't going to have Kate miss two meals and he needed to check up on her.

When he walked into the bedroom he saw Kate was lying on her left side with her back to the door. He moved to the bed and sat down giving a sigh as his body relished the fact that he was finally off his feet. Just a shame it couldn't stay that way as he felt that he needed to watch the trials and stand beside Tom. He also needed to see for himself that the trial was going to work as it meant they would be closer to going home and to his goals.

He heard Kate make a small huffing noise and felt the mattress shift, he looked to her and saw in the light that filtered from the main room into the space that she was waking up. He reached a hand over and touched the side of her face and slowly caressed it down to her neck.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked her, he had already surreptitiously felt her temperature. She was a little warm but it was hardly something to worry about. She gave a sleepy sigh as she slowly sat up and looked at him. She didn't look well as she was incredibly pale and had dark circles under eyes.

"Very blah" she told him as she ran a hand through her hair trying to wake up just a little more. She felt washed out and dead tired which made no sense as she spent most of the day lying in bed. Even now she just wanted to lie back down and go back to sleep but she didn't want to lie down alone.

"Well, you should be hungry" he told her. Kate made a face and shook her head as the thought of food made her want to be sick. What she wanted right now was to be held, to sink into Mike's warmth and strength.

"Not really" she replied as she pulled her legs out from under the blanket and top sheet, making moves to get up. Mike thought that maybe she was going to go to the ensuite so he moved further onto the bed until to get out of her way.

But much to his surprise instead of climbing over him, she straddled his lap and leaned against him. He half chuckled as she gave another sigh and pressed her forehead to his chest whilst her left hand grasped his shirt. She wasn't angling for sex, he knew that because she would have been stripping him out of his clothes and be more vocal about what she wanted. But instead she was lying against him like he was a pillow, not that he minded as it was one thing he could do well and with exceptional ease.

"Well you missed lunch, maybe you should have the meds at night only" he suggested to her as he gently brushed her hair away from her face with open hand and cradled the back of her neck.

"I only had a dose with breakfast and that's it" Kate said as she tucked her face into his neck and took a deep breath inhaling the scent of his skin. She felt her body sigh against him, it felt good to be held. So good, she closed her eyes and felt herself slowly start to drift back to sleep.

"I'm worried about you" he said before he pressed his lips to the top of her shoulder as a token of affection.

"The feeling is mutual" Kate murmured, she wished they were lying down as it would be more comfortable.

"Well, my 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep will have to wait" he informed her. That woke her out of her fuzzy state, she leaned back and regretted the movement as her head spun but Mike had loosened his hold on her and supported her back so she wasn't in any danger of falling backwards.

"Why?" Kate asked her tone had an edge to it as she tried to focus on him but the room was still spinning on her.

"The trials have started. I need to be there but first I wanted make sure you were ok and to take you to dinner" he told her. Kate smiled as she felt a zing of pleasure at knowing he had given her some consideration and that he was here checking on her. Especially given that he probably should be with Tom watching the trials.

"Such a gentleman but I have one request" Kate said as she gripped the front of his shirt with her left hand to secure herself to him.

"Ok" Mike said carefully, Kate quirked an eyebrow in amusement.

"Relax,I not asking for your kidneys" she told him teasingly.

"What's your request?" he asked her, steeling himself as he was waiting for her to make some sexual overture and frankly he was ready cave and give her what she wanted because he wanted it too.

"I would like us just lie down for a few more minutes before dinner" Kate told him.

"Just lie down?" he asked a little sceptical.

"Yeah, no offence but for all my talk this morning. I'm way too exhausted to take advantage of you right now" Kate told him looking disappointed at herself. He couldn't help but laugh as it was absurd and incredibly endearing at the same time to him. It felt incredibly good to laugh even if it was at the expense of Kate's ego.

"It's not funny" Kate griped playfully as she lifted herself off his lap and ungracefully flopped back onto the bed. She gave a muffled groan of pain as she shuffled herself into a more comfortable position.

"It is just a little" he told her with a smile as he caught her foot that was about to smack him in the face. He wasn't entirely sure if it was accidental either. He rose from the bed and tucked her back under the blanket before he moved over to her to lie on the left side of the bed that was up against the wall.

"Really?" Kate huffed him as he had purposefully tucked the blanket up to her neck. He couldn't help but have a little more fun with her as he was enjoying the levity.

"You said you were tired, so I tucked you in" he said jokingly, Kate gave him a dark look.

"Yeah this isn't what I had in mind" Kate told him before she wriggled out her left arm free and pushed the blanket down from her torso all the while making a frustrated huffy noise that was incredibly adorable.

"Don't fall out of bed" Mike warned her as he slowly took up the space she was freeing as she squirmed out of the blanket. She gave him another dark look but her lips were curved into a closed lip smile.

"I retract that statement about you being a gentleman" Kate informed him as they both shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed. After a minute or so they finally relaxed with Mike lying on his back with one arm above his head. His other arm was wrapped over Kate as she was curled at his side with her head resting on his shoulder and her legs tangled with his.

They immediately fell into a companionable silence and after a few moments Mike felt Kate's breathing even out. He lifted his head and looked down to see she had fallen asleep. He dropped his head back and tried not to laugh as Kate complained about him not being a gentleman. They were barely in his bed for a minute before she dozed off.

He looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath, getting himself relaxed as he didn't have much time or opportunity to lay about with Kate. Hell, he shouldn't even be doing it to begin with. But he ignored the voice in his head as he reminded himself that as far as fraternisation went. It was too late. He'd already crossed the line and bargained with himself that he made the rule of no sex while on the ship. So he wasn't committing the crime, it was a whitewash but he let it go because right now he needed this.

He needed to just lie down and relax, he needed to decompress from the last few days but it wasn't going to happen as he needed more than half hour. He also wanted more than a few hours of sleep with Kate. It would mean breaking his rule of no sex. Y_ou've been over a year without sex we can survive a little longer..._ Mike told himself, just a shame certain parts of him weren't ready to let go of that idea just yet. He could only resist temptation for so long and Kate already told him he would cave.

He had a feeling she said it to keep him motivated to keep his word and because like him; she enjoyed the anticipation and the build up between them. It distracted them from the crap going on around them and gave him a sense of levity they needed to cope. He felt Kate shift in her sleep and he tightened his arm around her as he thought for a moment she was going to roll away from him and off the bed. But instead she snuggled in closer to his side and relaxed again. He reluctantly pulled the arm from behind his head and check the time. He knew if he stayed longer than 30 minutes then Tom would have a fit. Marking the time he decided he stay for 10 minutes and then get something for Kate to eat before going back to the Helo Bay. He tucked his hand back under his head and looked up at the ceiling listening to the noises of ship and enjoying the feel of Kate's body pressed up against his.

* * *

Tom stood outside the Makeshift lab looking in. Watching the six people slowly start to deteriorate in health. So far a couple were starting to look pale and coming down with a fever. He watched Tex try to read 'Don Quixote' and give it up rather quickly. He wondered where the man got the book but wasn't in a talkative mood. He was too busy trying to show himself as a calm and steady presence. He wanted those inside that they weren't alone and he was going to stay with them even if it was from the outside.

He like Mike needed to be on hand for the rest of the crew but he also knew that Mike would cover what was going on for the ship which allowed Tom to focus on the trial of the vaccine. He had to wonder if it was the wisest course but he couldn't tear himself away. He felt that he should of been in the trial not standing on the outside peering in and feeling utterly helpless. He couldn't do anything for them, and if something went wrong with the trial he couldn't even save them. It reminded him of when his son Sam was born, that same helplessness threatened to swallow him whole as once again he had no control, he was just an observer.

He heard the interior door to the Helo Bay open and Tom saw in the reflection of the plastic wall of the lab; Mike step into the room and close the door. A second later Mike stood next to him. They didn't speak to one another for several minutes before Tom broke the silence.

"It reminds me of when Sam was born." Tom said to Mike in a low voice.

"He was a preemie, right?" Mike said making conversation.

"Five weeks in the N.I.C.U. All I could do was stand there, helpless." Tom said as that was exactly how he felt right now. Completely helpless. Mike didn't say anything but then there was nothing to say. There was nothing to be done on their side either which was frustrating as so much weighed on this trial.

"You were gone a while" Tom remarked, he needed to be distracted from thinking about his kids as it would only make him more anxious to have this trial work and frustratingly nothing would make the time go faster.

"Half an hour" Mike said as he checked his watch noting the time. He also didn't see the big deal given the long hours he had put in and that he had his radio on him 24/7. If Tom had needed him then he could of called.

"How's Lassiter?" Tom asked, he could help but not that Mike looked a little brighter than he did before. It made Tom slightly suspicious but he brushed it off as he couldn't imagine Mike and Kate rekindling their romance in half an hour. But then he really didn't want to know how long it would take or if they were doing it full stop. But given that Mike wasn't bouncing with energy or grinning like a Cheshire cat, so Tom was safe from having to act as Captain and tell Mike to keep his pants zipped. But then Mike already knew the talk and the two had already had angry words over the subject so there was no point in getting into it.

"She's hobbling around like she's 90. Let's hope we don't have to call general quarters as she's going to be hazard choking up the passageways at her pace." Mike said dryly although he was a tiny bit honest about it.

"You know you don't have to pretend" Tom told him, they were speaking in hushed tones so no one was going to overhear what they were saying.

"Pretend what?" Mike asked him as he wasn't lying, well not entirely. Kate was walking like a tired old man, her muscles were stiff and sore from not moving round enough during the day. She complained that it was her lack of yoga practice and if he was going to complain- well she had some colourful words to share on the subject that made him smile. He only made her walk to the door of his stateroom before he told her to stay and brought her some food to eat for dinner and take some pain meds. He hadn't wanted to leave her but they both knew he had to work even if it was excessively long hours.

"That she's a nuisance and you don't care about her." Tom informed him.

"Well, I'm not going to lie" Mike started and Tom looked at him to gauge his friend's response as Mike didn't really open up about his personal life all that often. At least not whilst they were on the ship "It's pretty amusing watching her slowly hobble around and being cantankerous." Mike said with smile.

"Seriously?" Tom asked in disbelief. He didn't think Kate being ill tempered was amusing at all but obviously he was missing out on something. But then he still trying to figure out what drew the two together in the first place. Sometimes he thought he had it figured out and then like right now he wasn't sure.

"Yeah, she reminds me of Grundgetta when she's like that" Mike told him. Tom gave him a weird look as he was definitely not going to ask how Mike made that connection because it would then that led to question of whether that made Mike the Oscar to her Grundgetta and what did that mean for the ship. As he remembered those Sesame Street characters were rather argumentative. A conversation two superior officers shouldn't get into in a public domain if they wanted to still be respected by their crew.


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

* * *

The hours passed unbearably slow for Mike and they still had another 2 days of watching the trial. His eyes felt dry and itchy, his head ached from drinking too much coffee and lack of sleep and right now he was questioning why they had to sit here and watch the trial. He knew the reasons but it was hard to feel why they were still relevant give that he hadn't slept more than a 10 minute powernap in over 24 hours.

He looked down at his watch and noted that it was 7am and it would another half an hour before breakfast would be served to those in quarantine and he could slip away. He really needed another 10 minute powernap with Kate followed by a cold shower and a shave.

The interior door to the Helo bay opened and Mike frowned as it was too early for breakfast. Much to his surprise Kate stepped into the room and walked straight up to the makeshift lab. He sat up straighter taking note of her as she was still walking in a hobbling fashion like her muscles were still stiff. In fact she looked like she rolled out of bed and only brushed her hair before coming down. She hadn't even put on her shoes but then he remembered the issues she was having with tying her laces.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kate asked Tex as she slowly walked up to the plastic wall to stare through it at him. The man who had smiled and stood up from his bed to greet Kate through the plastic reared back at her dark mood.

"Language, there's a child in the room" Tex told her, gesturing to Bertrise who like everyone else in the room had perked up at the fresh face in the room. Kate gave him a droll look. Everyone was watching them to see what would happen.

"Yeah and I'm looking at him. You know I was halfway through breakfast when I learnt that you're in this trial and that's funny cause usually before you do something stupid you come and tell me in great detail about it. But apparently I had to learn through listening to scuttle butt about you going into the Bubble of Doom" Kate told him as she gestured to the tented room.

Mike looked to Tom for direction but his friend looked unsure of what to do. So Mike decided to sit back and let it play out.

"I prefer to think of it as the Tent of Hope" Tex said correcting her as he gestured to the room he was currently inhabiting. His tone light as tried to not anger Kate any more than she already was but knew it was a losing battle give the dark look she gave him.

"Whatever, you should have told me beforehand and apologised to me" she told him.

"Apologise for what? For being a beacon of hope?" Tex asked being purposefully obtuse as he found her anger amusing. It probably hadn't helped that she was walking like an old woman.

"No for being an overbearing asshole who thinks he has the right to tell me what to do and assumes that I'm incapable of making good choices" Kate told him.

"I'm sorry about that, you're right." Tex said in earnest and it took the wind out Kate's sails as she had been prepared for a long argument. She also just wanted to shout at him just to vent her own frustration as she had no outlet due to her injuries but it was now gone.

"Oh- Ok well, apology accepted" Kate told him in an awkward manner as she felt slightly put in her place. Tex smiled as he knew he had beaten her to the punch and she had no reason to shout at him yet but she would get one in less than 10 seconds.

"Good, also I tried to see you but I couldn't find you. I even went by your quarters to see you yesterday to talk but you weren't there. I took your book by the way" Tex told her as he lifted the book to show he had it. Kate narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips in displeasure.

"You stole my book" Kate said as she wasn't about to say that she had been comatose in Mike's stateroom or that she would have gone back to bed if she hadn't heard that he was in the trial. He was for better or worse the only family she had left. Right now he was the annoying older brother who no concept of privacy or personal boundaries and she remembered her book being locked up in her cupboard in her shared quarters with Rachel.

"I prefer the term 'borrowed' and I would have asked but you weren't there. In fact you've made yourself rather scarce." He said thoughtfully, Kate gave him nothing as she knew he was fishing for information. "But don't worry, you'll get it back after I've finished it" Tex said with a smile as Kate narrowed her eyes at him.

"So tell me are you enjoying Don Quixote?" Kate asked snidely, she cupped her right elbow with her left hand wishing she could fold her arms. As she was sure she looked like a joke right now trying to look angry with her busted up body. Tex gave a shrug not taking interest in her annoyance she chalked it up to him being tucked away 'safely' away from her in the quarantine tent.

"Not really, I can't believe you paid good money for this book it's not even in English" Tex told her, he made a face that was a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes and inform him that the book was originally published in Spanish but she didn't as he offered up a nice soft spot for her to attack.

"I didn't buy it, it was a gift from Anna" Kate told him, she smiled as Tex dropped the book like it was diseased which was funny given the situation and she would have laughed except that she didn't have many personal items. So the mistreatment of her book kind of annoyed her even if it was amusing to see him get all squirmy and uncomfortable at the mention of Anna.

"Why did you have to bring her up?" Tex asked her, his reticence to talk about her friend got everyone's attention as it was pretty rare for Tex to share personal information about himself let alone show actually dislike for another person especially a woman.

"You brought her up by 'borrowing' my book. Anna who is also my friend and she understands the concept of personal boundaries unlike you" Kate told him knowing he'd hate the comparison.

"I don't get how you can compare with that humourless she-de-" Tex started but Kate cut him off. She knew Anna and Tex didn't get along and while she enjoyed watching Tex get antsy about it. She didn't enjoy or appreciate him insulting her friend.

"hey, be careful of what you say Seppo. You're not going to be in your little tent of hope forever. I wouldn't want to have to kick your ass for insulting one of my oldest and dearest friends" Kate warned him. He opened his mouth to argue or maybe poke fun but she wasn't having it. Not now that her friend was probably dead."I'm serious mate, do not mock the dead" she told him in a serious tone.

"Ok, Ok" Tex said backing down first. "Anyway the book is better in English" he informed her in a petty manner.

"Gee, maybe you should have flicked through a few pages before stealing it to take into your 'tent of hope' "Kate drawled sarcastically.

* * *

"Well you were right about Tex being the entertainment for the next three days" Mike said to Tom, as they watched Kate and Tex have their animated conversation. He had been concerned for a moment when Kate warned Tex not to mock her friend 'Anna' but the two mellowed out and now having an animated discussion about Indiana Jones movies. It only came up because Miller had asked politely if they could stop referring to the make shift lab as the 'tent of hope'.

"It's a regular double act with Kate on the outside and Tex on the inside" Tom replied as most of the people in quarantine were talking with Kate and Tex or listening in and smiling at the antics of the two. He didn't blame them as Kate and Tex's friendship was rather amusing given the sibling dynamic they had going on.

"It's an amusing distraction" Mike commented, his radio crackled to life and Tom watched as Mike stepped out of the room to answer it before he turned back to watch Kate and Tex.

* * *

"You don't get a say in this" Tex told Kate as they had started a conversation that everyone was participating in now.

"Why not?" Kate asked him.

"Because you're Australian" Tex told her in a tone that equated to the petty argument of 'you're a girl and you wouldn't understand boy stuff'. Kate made a derisive noise and rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh my apologies, I forgot my nationality completely makes me incapable of understanding the complexities of American Pop culture" Kate deadpanned.

"Lassiter, a word outside" Tom said before Tex could give her a witty reply but she was grateful for the escape as she was already getting tired. The walk down to the Helo Bay had been enough to sap most of her energy and as amusing as it was to argue with Tex. It was also draining.

"Well, leave you all to it" Kate said with a mock salute she turned on her feet and followed Tom out of the Helo bay, he closed the doors behind them before he gestured towards Helo Bay two.

"I guess you want to have that 'talk' with me that we didn't have yesterday" Kate said in a casual tone but really she was steeling herself for another round of ego bruising and fighting. He opened the door to Helo Bay two and Kate stepped into the room feeling slightly disorientated as the Helo was gone and the room was filled with boxes and a long table surrounded by chairs.

"Yes, there's no sense in putting it off." Tom told her as he closed the door behind them.

"Why does that make me uneasy?" Kate asked him as she moved to the table and took a seat. She knew she was giving Tom the advantage by sitting down but right now she just wanted to get off her feet.

"Because you're suspicious by nature and decided to lump me in with your dead husband and Ruskov" Tom said casually as he took a chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down. She could see he was insulted at being lumped into the club of men who had insulted or irreparably damaged her ego. In fairness it's a pretty exclusive club with very few members. She half thought about telling him that he should feel honoured but decided it best not to be completely .

"Can't blame me for drawing the conclusions when you haven't exactly warmed up to me even when I've given you my all" Kate said, she looked straight at him not even blinking or letting her eyes waver as she was tired taking shit from him.

"I know but understand my position. I can't just-" Tom started but she didn't give him a chance to continue before she interrupted him.

"Save the speech. I not asking to join your meetings or weigh in on command decisions, all I've ever asked was that maybe you give me the courtesy of acting as though I'm a friend and ally or is that too hard?" She asked somewhat scathingly.

"Maybe if you were a little less abrasive" he suggested.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black" Kate scoffed.

"I'll try to do my better. Speaking of, you and Mike-"

"Are you testing me already?" She asked him, she narrowed her eyes at him as she was not in the mood to argue about Mike.

"No, I said I'd stay out of whatever is going on between you two until it disrupted the ship" he told her.

"You talking about how he offered his stateroom?" Kate asked as she couldn't believe that Tom would question his best friend's ability to keep his pants zipped and be a gentleman.

"I've sensed a shift between you two. You're less hostile-"

"And more friendly and respectful of one another?" she finished for him.

"Yes, what changed?" he asked and suddenly she realised he wasn't doubting Mike's character but was jealous of her. She didn't blame him as Mike was a private man which meant they both knew two very different sides of the same man but for her. She saw a side of Mike, Tom didn't know or didn't understand. He probably thought she had some kind of magic pull on Mike that would make her a distraction. Something Tom couldn't afford.

"That's between myself and Mike" Kate told Tom, feeling just a little smug because she wasn't under his command thus didn't have to tell him anything if she didn't want to.

"I can't condone fraternisation on the ship especially when it's my XO" Tom warned her, Kate laughed at him because she couldn't help it but find the conversation ludicrous and completely unnecessary.

"We're not fraternising. Trust me, Mike's top priority is getting back to his family and the only way that will happen is when the mission is over and you give him leave. Do you really believe he would muck that up for a quick shag?" Kate asked him. She would have laughed if it wasn't so pathetic as she would love to distract Mike for a few hours and 'fraternise' the man into a coma but it wasn't going to happen. At least not until they were off the ship and even then she had to concede that he would probably want to find his kids first.

"No" Tom said, he was still maintaining his steely demeanour of being the offended and superior party of the conversation.

"Exactly, so stop suspecting everyone of doing something 'wrong' or 'evil'. It's really annoying and it's going to drive me mental" she told him, by 'everyone' she meant herself and Mike.

"Bit late for that" he said with a faint quirk of his lips and even she had to admit it was a bit of joke for her to try and claim she had any sanity to begin with. She gave a sigh and leaned back in the chair wishing it were cushioned as the steel was hard and unforgiving against her sore muscles.

"Yeah well I've decided that I'm going to loosen up a little and try to give you the benefit of the doubt" Kate told him.

"Give me the benefit of the doubt?" he scoffed in disbelief.

"Yeah, cause it must be difficult for you to have to deal with me considering I'm the only one on this ship who doesn't believe that the sun shines out of your ass" Kate told him.

"Ok, let's take a breath and calm down" He said.

"I'm calm which let me tell you should scare you more than when I'm yelling at you" Kate told him.

"I'm trying to reconcile with you here" he said and for some reason his words pissed her off.

"I recommend starting with a 'thank you' or an apology not telling me that you don't condone my actions or lack of action in regards to your XO." She told him in a dark tone "I was military, I know the how this world works and the rules and it's just insulting that you think I'd -"

"Ok, I get it" Tom said cutting her off. They both looked away from one another for a moment as the tension between them was tight enough to snap. Kate gave a sigh of aggravation and rubbed her hand down her face.

"I'm tired of being on the defence here and you got more important things to do than chastise me" she told him.

"I know but we need to find a way to talk without it becoming cut throat." He told her.

"Was this all you wanted to talk about?" she asked him thinking perhaps if they moved to a different topic it might make for safer ground.

"No, I wanted to talk about the intel" he told her. Tom noted how she stiffened at the mention of the intel or her own last name and wondered what trigger he had accidentally set off or how they even became triggers to begin with.

"What about it now?" she asked suspiciously but he didn't read too far into it as he knew like he; she was preparing for yet another argument. It seemed that there was no topic they could talk about without one of them becoming insulted or overly sensitive about.

"There is apparently a map you showed with Lassiter Industries facilities that are still active" he said, he remembered Mike talking about it but couldn't find it to save his own life. There was just too much data to sift through but Kate apparently knew her way around the system on her phone.

"I prefer the term 'secure', I wouldn't know if they are still active but there are too many unknown variables for me to give you any indication on if they are 'safe'. Why do you want to mass produce the vaccine in one of their labs?" Kate asked him.

"It was an idea but we first need a vaccine" he said, he felt his stomach twist anxiously as he needed this trial to be successful but so far it felt like a bleak exercise in futility.

"Well, I can find the map again but I wouldn't hand over anything to Lassiter Industries" Kate told him.

"Why not? It's your company" he said, stating the obvious.

"In name only. It doesn't give me any authority over who is still working for the company. The people who are possibly running those places don't know me from Eve. They won't take orders from me and since I know you read my file and spoke with Rachel, well you should know I don't trust them to do the right thing" Kate said.

"It shouldn't be ruled out just because you mistrust them" he said and he saw anger flash through her eyes for a brief moment before she gave a shrug.

"It's your decision but I suggest going for a military owned lab. At least you guys might actually uphold higher moral and ethical standards when it comes to distributing the vaccine" She told him.

"My first choice is Fort Detrick, it's an army base up north but I want back up options" he informed her.

"You think Ruskov has been hitting up the east coast of American making his mark?" she asked, he quirked a questioning eyebrow as he wondered if Kate knew something he didn't. He hadn't wanted to pry too much into what happened on the Vyerni given their first conversation about it hadn't gone so well.

"I don't know" he replied as there was no better answer than that. He had no clue what Ruskov had been doing in the months the Nathan James had been in the Arctic besides nuking France and probably a few other places in Europe.

"He boasted to me about how he felt Geneva was no longer necessary for the new world. So it had to go" Kate said in a blasé fashion, he gave a nod as he remembered Ruskov saying the same to him.

"When we sailed past the east coast a few weeks ago there had been no signs of a nuclear weapons having been used and Ruskov wouldn't have enough armament to take out every military installation on the East Coast" Tom said thoughtfully but it didn't rule out home terrorism given the panic that had overtaken the world when the virus became a pandemic.

"If you say so, I'm not exactly savvy on the Naval ships or their capabilities" Kate said, he could see she was flagging as her face over the past 10 minutes had become paler which only emphasised the dark circles under her eyes. He'd have to let her go so she could go get some rest.

"What else did Ruskov tell you?" he asked out of curiosity. Kate looked down at the table for a long moment not answering him. He would have been suspicious if it weren't for her looking so despondent and beaten.

"Nothing you need to know" she told him in a dull tone.

"You know if you want to talk about it-" he started but she cut him off with a shake of her head.

"No offence but if I wanted to cry about how much of an idiot I've been these past 4 years by playing the 'ignorance is bliss' card" she gave a sardonic smile "Well you wouldn't be the first person I'd want to talk to about it" she told him.

"Fair enough" he said. It was out of habit that he had offered to listen to her but he figured she would shoot him down.

"But I appreciate the offer" She told him. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to continue this conversation another time"

"Sure, do you want me to escort you back to your quarters?" he asked her.

"No, I'm good. But I wouldn't mind you opening the door" she told him with a somewhat rueful smile.

"That I can do" Tom said, he rose from his chair and went to the door. He opened it for her and noticed her bare feet not for the first time. "and next time try to put on your shoes" he told her.

"Tying my shoe laces is a challenge at the moment" she said and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I know but I'm sure no one would mind helping you and I'd prefer you swallow your pride than stub your toe or take off a toenail" Tom told her.

"Fair call, I'll keep it in mind" Kate told him as she passed through the door and walked away.

* * *

"Hey Lassiter, you come from the Helo bay? How's it going down there?" Burk said, Kate practically jumped out of her skin when he stuck his head out of the crew lounge just as she slowly passed it. She had been deep in her thoughts when Burk had freaked her out. The pain meds and her injuries were really dulling her edge as she wouldn't have flinched from Burk appearing out of the doorway.

"Well, no one was bleeding from the eyeballs yet" Kate assured him as she continued her slow trek through the ship.

"You ok?" he asked her as he felt into step beside her.

"Fine why?" she asked, she was not fine. Her body was on fire with muscle aches and stiffness as her body was telling her it was time to lie down. In fact it was screaming at her. She wished she could exercise but given the amount of bruising and given her level of fatigue she wasn't willing to risk further injuries by over stretching or worse tearing a muscle or dislocating a joint. It was known to happen and right now she wished she had taken her pain meds at breakfast she thought it would be better for her to be conscious during the day hours. Boy was she paying for that mistake now.

"You're walking slow" Burk said stating the obvious.

"I overstretched my hamstrings" Kate grumbled as she was trying not to be a smart ass.

"I doubt that since I haven't seen you in the gym" Burk said in good humour. Kate turned and looked at him suspiciously.

"You stalking me Burk?" she asked him.

"Wouldn't dream of it Ma'am" he told her.

"Good" She replied but she didn't feel reassured at all as she started walking again. Walking was a very loose term for what she was doing in fact she was pretty sure in about ten minutes time she would be crawling down the passageways to get back to Mike's stateroom. Her sanctuary.

"But ah from the way you're walking I'd say you probably pulled a few muscles probably from when you fought with the Russians which is stressing your frame" Burk remarked, Kate raised her eyebrows in slight shock as she didn't remember asking him or giving him permission to assess her 'frame'.

"Excuse me" she said in a warning tone as she hoped he wasn't hitting on her as she liked to think he was a smooth operator when it came to picking up women or men or both.

"You should do light PT" he advised her.

"I'm walking right now. That's light PT and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't do anything more than that until the bruises have cleared up" she told him.

"True but muscle stiffness-" Burk started only for Kate to turn on her feet to face him and cut him off.

"Did Commander Slattery order you to follow me around?" Kate asked him as she really didn't need a lecture on what she should do for her body right now as it was currently torturing her.

"No, why would he do that?" Burk asked.

"Cause I'm slow and without shoes" Kate stepped to the side to allow a crewmember to walk past her. "Getting in the way" Kate added.

"No, but Tex did ask me to keep an eye on you as a favour and I tried to find you earlier but it was like you disappeared" Burk said, Kate kept a neutral expression on her face but was inwardly frowning as he should of known where she was given that Burk was supposed to be sharing his quarters with Mike.

"I was around" Kate answered as she wasn't going to get Mike into trouble or start rumours.

"So out of curiosity, where were you?" he asked her.

"Did Tex ask you to interrogate me as well?" she asked as she continued walking again. She was trying to remember which way would take her to the stairs that would lead to the upper decks but with Burk talking to her and her body screaming in pain it was difficult to remember. She just hoped she was going the right way.

"No" he answered his tone casual.

"Don't have guns to clean or weights to lift?" she asked

"No" he replied with a smile as he now knew she was trying to give him the brush off.

"You could read a book or play poker instead of looking out for me. I'll tell Tex you acted like the annoying little brother I never had" Kate told him with a mocking smile.

"Little?" he questioned her.

"You're younger than me and right now I just want to sit down and put my feet up" Kate lied. She wanted to lay down but she wouldn't be able to go to Mike's stateroom with Burk following her around.

"I assume you were going to the wardroom right?" he asked.

"Yeah for lunch" Kate lied as she really didn't want to but now knew she would be given the smug look Burk was giving her.

"You'll want to take the stairs" he told her.

"I was going to do that" she told him as she pointed in the direction she thought the stairs were.

"You'll want backtrack and hang a left" he told her with a helpful smile, Kate glowered at him before she gave a sigh and walked past him to go the direction he had said.

* * *

"Anything I should be aware of?" Tom asked Mike when the man returned to his side a couple of hours later.

"No, just the usual. I also put in some face time on the bridge and checked in with temporary department heads. Everything is going fine" Mike answered casually as he stood in a relaxed military stance clasping his hands behind his back. "Where's Kate?"

"I told her to go and rest. Where are her boots again?" Tom asked he didn't miss the fact that Mike had called Kate by her first name after months of calling her 'Lassiter'. It was probably a slip up on Mike's part which was why he decided for now to leave it alone.

"On the Vyerni along with her wedding ring before you even ask" Mike told him.

"I wasn't going to but we can't have her walking around the ship with bare feet" Tom told him.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Mike asked him.

"I don't know" Tom said with a sigh as he could only ask so much before he felt like he was helping create situations for the two to be together. He was still deciding whether to believe the two at face value that they weren't fraternising or just let it go and accept that the two would be together and just hope the two were so discreet he could overlook it. But for now he annoyingly sat on the fence with the issue.

"How's it going in there?" Mike asked nodding his head in the direction of the Quarantine Tent.

"Not well, they're getting worse" Tom said, he didn't want to admit it but at the same time he had to acknowledge that there was a very good chance everything would go south.

"What do you want to tell the crew?" Mike asked him.

"Right now? I think it's best to say it is going as anticipated. Dr Scott said there would be side effects. This is just the side effects, I don't want them thinking the worst yet" Tom told him.

"So vague details with a positive outlook" Mike said for clarification.

"Yes" Tom said but inwardly he felt like he was going back on his word about being open and honest about how the mission was going but he didn't want to call the trial a failure prematurely but he also didn't want the crew to lose faith either just because the reality was looking rather bleak.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

* * *

6 hours later,

Kate looked down at the bowl of food placed in front of her. It was creamy carbonara pasta dish which didn't inspire her appetite at all. She picked up her fork and pushed it around wishing she could just eat porridge for dinner or a sandwich. Actually, she wanted to go back to Mike's stateroom and go to sleep but Burk hadn't left her alone except to use the lavatory and her quarters were definitely too far away for her at the moment as she was practically running on fumes energy wise.

The only upside was that the chairs in the wardroom were comfy but now after several hours sitting in one she was ready for pain killers and lie down. Something she wouldn't get until Burk left her alone or she escaped him. It was just a shame that the ship's air ducts were so tiny because it would have made for a great escape _or possibly an embarrassing trap… _Kate thought as images of getting stuck in the air ducts filled her mind.

After the other officers started to filter in for dinner she figured it might give her an opportunity to escape. So now she sat at the table with Major Barker, Lts Burke, Green, Mejia and Chung as Lt Granderson was taking a phone call.

"It's really good" Chung commented to her from across the table. He must have seen her face of displeasure.

"Yeah, not a big fan of hot creamy food" Kate said giving him a polite smile. He gave nod with a closed lip smile before he turned his attention to the end of the room where Lt Granderson stood talking on the phone. She was getting update on the trial. It was hard to tell if it was good news or not as Granderson was giving nothing away. The other men weren't touching their food as they were more interested in what Granderson was learning.

"Right." Granderson paused as she listened to whoever was on the other side. It obviously wasn't the Captain or Mike as she wasn't using 'sir' and her stance was rather relaxed. After a few seconds she spoke "Thanks." She said, she hung up the phone and turned back to them.

"So far, so good." She said as she moved to her chair "That's the word." She added as she sat down.  
"Can't believe this could really be it. Going home with a vaccine." Chung said with a smile he seemed to be the only one willing to openly show optimism and be excited at the prospect of going home.  
"Any idea what the plan would be for mass production?" Burk asked Lt Granderson, Kate thought it was weird Burk would ask her and not Major Barker who sat right next to him.

"I heard talk about the C.D.C." Granderson answered but Major barker shook his head.

"Nah, it's too far inland. Captain's thinking Fort Detrick U.S.A.M.R.I.I.D." He said correcting her.  
"The question is whether or not they have any power." Lt Meija said speaking up, the others at the table processed the thought as he was right. Chung however was the first to sit up with and idea.  
"We could rig something to siphon off from the ship-"Chung started say but Lt Green cut him off.

Hey. let's not jinx this, okay? It's only been six hours." He said in a curt tone. An awkward tension filled the room as they all knew why he was so uptight about it given that Lt Forster was in the trial.

As much as he admitted to fraternising he also made it widely known he had broken it off after he nearly screwed up a mission which Kate felt was completely unnecessary as it made him seem like an asshole especially how his demeanour and tone inferred like it Lt Forster's fault that he had been distracted and he was just a victim of her 'feminine wiles'. He would have earned a little more respect in Kate's books if he had admitted he had made a mistake and realised that he was at fault as he made a selfish decision that nearly destroyed them all instead of performing his duties. It wasn't like he was special, everyone on the ship had someone they cared about or family they wanted to go home to but at the end of the day they were all doing their job without it muddling their decisions.

The silence was unbearable for Kate as she wanted to tell Green to toughen up and allow some people to be enjoy the small successes even if they were temporary. But she wasn't ready to start a battle with him and frankly couldn't be bothered. The door to the wardroom opened and the officers looked up in hope for a moment before going back to their dinners. Kate turned in her chair and saw Kelly Tophet and her daughter step into the room and close the door. Kate felt sympathy for them as they probably thought it was their entrance that caused the silence in the room. That and they hadn't exactly been given a warm greeting from anyone as they stared at their meals in silence at the table which was made it even more awkward.

Kate gave her warm smile "Hey" she said in greeting to them.

"Hello" Kelly returned with a polite smile as she ushered her daughter into a chair at the head of the table as it was the only seat besides the one next to Chung that was free.

"I'm sorry, I know we briefly met the other night but I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Kate" Kate said with a warm smile as she knew what it was like to be an outsider. Kate already knew who they were but decided to break the ice anyway.

"Kelly and this is my daughter Ava" Kelly said before she thanked the stewards from bringing food out to them. She gave Kate a somewhat grateful smile as it wasn't hard to miss the ugly tension in the room as the officers were definitely looking depressed by the reality of the situation.

"Nice to meet you. How are you settling in?" Kate asked looking at both Kelly and her daughter. She felt a little sorry for Ava because she had nowhere to play or kids her own age to relate to on the ship. The only advantage of the Nathan James was that they were no longer prisoners and reunited with Tophet.

"Well, thank you for asking" Kelly said being polite as she draped a napkin across her lap.

"Good to hear" Kate said to her.

"I heard the trials are going well" Kelly said making conversation.

"Yeah, but no decisions have been made yet to what will happen afterwards" Kate told her.

"And if there are decisions to be made they will be made by the Captain and the XO" Major Barker told Kate in a patronising tone as if she needed to remember her place. Normally it would annoy her coming from someone like Grodin or even the Captain but from Barker it just made him sound like a fan protecting his hero from being knocked off his pedestal.

"Yes, Major. I think we all know how a pecking order works" Kate drawled sarcastically as she gave him a droll look. He gave her a tolerating smile. Kate looked to Ava and smiled at the young girl who was looking at her dinner; bored. "Hey Ava, have you had the honour of meeting the highest ranking member of the ship?" she asked.

Ava lifted her head and looked at Kate with a confused expression probably because she wondered why she was being spoken to.

"I have met Captain Chandler" Ava answered. Kate reared back and gave her an odd look.

"What? no" Kate said, she shook her head and made a face like Tom was unimpressive. "I'm talking about Admiral Halsey" Kate told her, she noticed how those at the table were now listening in on her conversation.

"We haven't had the honour" Kelly said not sure where this was going.

"No? well that's pretty remiss of him not to drop by and say hello" Kate said looking down the table at Lt Green. The man was staunchly staring at the remains of his dinner stubborn to stay in his bad mood.

"Admiral Halsey is a dog" Major Barker informed Kelly and Ava. The little girl's eyes lit up at the mention of an animal and who could blame her.

"Who outranks the Captain, so tell me when he barks do you guys ask how high or just immediately jump?" Kate asked Barker with a teasing smile. Ava giggled at the joke while Barker gave her a disapproving look. The others at the table smiled letting the disrespectful nature of the joke slide as it made the girl smile. Even Lt Green who was in a dark mood before gave a quirk of the lips.

"Charming, Lassiter but no we don't jump at his command as his rank isn't real. So when he barks we just continue doing what we do" Barker told her, Kate pulled a face at him.

"Stop mucking up my fun" Kate complained playfully. She looked to Ava "You know Halsey is a working dog but I think if you ask really nicely. Lt Green might and I stress the 'might' allow you the honour of playing with Halsey when it's his recreational time" she added.

"Maybe" Lt Green said not looking happy at being put on the spot.

"Maybe is better than the flat out 'no' he gave me" Kate assured Ava with a wink.

* * *

"Never got a chance to tell ya. It was a nice eulogy for Cossetti" Mike said to Tom as they watched the Doctors do the rounds on the patients in the quarantine tent. Doctor Scott had tried to hand out water only for Tex step up and offering his services. The man was laying it on pretty thick and Dr Scott while she appeared charmed didn't seem to really appreciate his efforts.

"I don't want any more funerals, Mike." Tom said in a despondent yet firm tone. He had been thinking about how he had made Mike lie by omission to the crew about how the trials were fairing. He looked into the tent and saw Forster, Gibson and Miller were doing the worst out of the six. His guts twisted as he didn't want to give a eulogy for any of them.

"I think she's got everything in hand." Mike said referring to Dr Scott. "You were right about her." Mike added.

Tom was surprised that Mike had changed his tune about Rachel but restrained himself from questioning it as he figured Rachel scored Mike's respect for going to the Vyerni and surviving.

Hell, she had his respect for that too given how incredibly dangerous it had been for her. The risks she took for him including passing that message to him with that kiss. He tried not to overanalyse the reasons behind why she kissed him when Tex had been there when Tex stared shouting. The man's voice dragged Tom's attention back to the tent.

"Doc! We got a problem!" Tex shouted before he leaned over Lt Forster, her eyes were open and blank. Her face frozen as Tex shook her "Kara! Kara! Kara! She's not responding." Tex said as he moved out of the way. Tom and Mike rose to their feet and moved up to the clear partition.

"Resps 32, heart rate 120." Rachel said to Tophett and Rios before she turned her attention back to the lieutenant. "Kara, it's Rachel. Can you tell me how you're doing? Kara?" Rachel asked, she flashed a pen light in the Lieutenant's eyes which seemed to only make whatever was happening worse as Lt Forster's eyes rolled up into her head and her body started to shake.

"All right, she's seizing. Give me some room." Rachel said. The men helped her pull the cot out from the line that allowed them more room to move around Lt Forster as her body kept shaking. Tom and Mike stood outside looking in and hating every damn minute as they were at a complete loss. They couldn't do anything but watch helplessly from the outside as the doctors worked on Lt Forster.

Mike watched as the whole energy of the room changed, Jeter clutched his bible silently praying whilst Garnet watched on in concern and fear. Miller and Gibson were barely out of their beds but they could see the commotions and they were scared as Forster would be a frightening reminder of the reality that this was going to happen to them if the vaccine failed to work for them. It felt incredibly real now unlike before.

All the while in the chaos, Dr Scott spoke in a calm voice as she, Tophett and Rios worked on Forster as her vitals monitor went mental. Tex held onto Forster's legs making sure she didn't roll off the cot as the doctors flurried around her. Tom looked to Mike as it incredibly hard to keep them to stay in place and not do anything as they was trained to act in an emergency but right now like Tom they couldn't just rush into the room and help.

"We've got to lower her core temperature." Rachel said "I need ice!" She shouted over the noise. Bertrise who had been standing behind them ran to the side of the room without hesitation and opened up one of the many eskies and started to fill up a jug with ice.

"Get me an N.G. Tube." Rachel said to Rios. The man moved to the kit beside him and started pulling out equipment and handing it over to Rachel.  
"Approaching four minutes." Tophett announced as Bertrise raced into the quarantine tent.  
"I got the ice!" she announced.

"Pour the water over the ice and bring it here" Rachel told her as she snaked a small plastic tube down Forster's throat. Rios jumped to his feet and did as Rachel ordered and brought the jug over to her. They watched as Rachel jabbed a large syringe into the water and pulled the pump sucking water into it.

Mike brought his hands to his mouth as he thought of Lucas in that moment. Was this what it had been like for Christina to watch their son die? The tight knot of pain and anguish that he had been ignoring for weeks tightened in his chest making him feel as if he was going to choke as he watched Rachel inject the cold water into the tube she had inserted into Forster's throat. After a few moments passed, Rachel methodically pulled the tube out from Forster. The girl continued to convulse on the bed and made a sickly gurgling noise. Tophet took the woman's temperature sounding out the temp and miraculously it lowered and after a few more moments the convulsing slowly dissipated. Lt Forster's eyes seemed to focus and she seemed somewhat present in the room with them again.

Mike exhaled a sigh of relief for the lieutenant as she seemed to be out of the woods. But the knot in his chest wouldn't unravel, he had to take a step back from the plastic partition because now all he could see in his head was Lucas dying. He hadn't been there for his son, he hadn't seen the virus ravage him but now with these six people he was being given points of reference. Things that helped his imagination cook up his nightmares, as all he could think was that his daughters could be in the same position as Lt Forster or worse. It was getting hard for him to breathe.

Tom watched his friend in deep concern as Mike moved to the door and stop. He stopped at the door but didn't leave. Tom looked back to Rachel and they locked eyes.

"All right." Rachel said sagging back onto her heels as she was crouched by Lt Forster's head "Everything's all right. It was just the fever." Rachel assured them. After a few moments she rose to her feet and he motioned for her to meet him outside. He needed to be debriefed as he suspected that this was not an anticipated side effect.

She gave a nod and moved away from Lt Forster allowing Rios and Tex to take care of her.

Tom moved towards Mike who had pressed his hands to the wall and dropped his head. He could imagine what Mike was thinking but he was sure a part of him was thinking about his kids. Just like Tom they wanted this to work so they could return home and save their children and the harsh reality was the longer they were at sea the more likely they wouldn't make it back in time. He heard the flap of plastic and turned to see Rachel come out looking mildly pissed off with Tophet arguing with her. It was not a good sign.

"A 104 degree fever can't be from the prototype." Quincy said as he and Rachel as came out of the tent after decontamination procedures. They had been arguing Lt Forster's prognosis and the current run down of the other's symptoms and whether the vaccine was working. Rachel bit the inside of her cheek as she wanted to tell Quincy to shut his trap and wait until they were in the other room away from the patients to discuss the initial results and the anomaly of Lt Forster's fever.

So what does that mean? Is it the virus?" Tom asked them. Wanting answers as always but not patient enough to wait for Rachel to breathe let alone think for one moment to get a grasp on the situation. She mosved to the desk she had set up and started rummaging through the files looking for Lt Forster's file.

"It's possible we didn't build a strong enough copy of Bertrise's receptors. The decoys could be breaking down." Quincy said to Tom only spurring her annoyance at him since he might be brilliant but he hadn't been present for all of the research so him giving that answer made Rachel appear like a fool.

"We checked it a dozen must have missed something in her medical history. Repeat C.B.C. and electrolytes on everyone. Add on L.F.T.s and endocrine panels. That should tell us more than their blood work." Rachel ordered Quincy. The man gave Tom a look that said he was not in agreement with Rachel on this. She found the file she was looking for and opened it scanning the pages looking for some indication of what was going wrong.

"He doesn't seem convinced." Tom said to Rachel. She looked up from the file to Tom and took a moment to breathe so she wouldn't be so caustic in her reply.

"In fairness to Quincy, he hasn't been here." Rachel told Tom as that was as polite as she could be about Quincy in that moment of time.

"Is there anything you can give the others to help reduce the symptoms?" Mike asked Rachel, she looked at him for a moment seeing how unsettled he was which was unusual for the Commander. She looked at the wall in front of her for a moment before she said.

"Quincy, give them 80 micrograms of interferon." Rachel said to Quincy who had been about to go perform her orders. He gave a nod and went back to the tent to suit up. Rachel closed the file she had been looking as she couldn't see the answer " Right. That should pump up their immune systems Just in case." Rachel told Tom and Mike, it didn't need to be said as the 'just in case' was an unspoken message for when things went for bad to worse.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

Mike had managed to regain his composure but that knot in his chest had yet to subside back to the low ache he couldn't get rid of. The only time it seemed to lessen was around Kate but then she had that magic way of making the world and its worry disappear from around him. He sat on a stool watching as Lt Forster's condition as well as the others worsened. He twisted his signet ring around his finger as he couldn't sit calmly. It was unbearable to watch now his mind had made the association of the trials to his son and he knew it was only going get worse as the pain he had been ignoring bubbled to the surface. Yet morbidly, he couldn't make himself walk away.

Tom looked down at Mike and not for the first time was sorely tempted to order the man to leave the room as something about his friend's demeanour deeply concerned him. It was probably the fact that Mike was twisting his signet ring, given he wasn't a man for fidgeting it was a sign something was wrong. But he didn't know how to broach the subject and he didn't have a legitimate reason to order him out.

The door to the room opened and Tom was surprised to see Kate step inside the room. He figured she'd be passed out on pain killers but given the tightness in her jaw and the pallor of her skin she was not doing well. She moved to the plastic partition and looked inside for a long moment before she turned to face them. Her eyes stopped on Mike but he didn't seem to be entirely aware that she was there as he looked past her and kept twisting his ring. She looked to Tom, her lips set into a grim line. He pulled out a chair for her and gestured for her to take it.

Kate moved slowly to the chair and gave a muffled groan of pain as she sat down. She looked to Mike deeply concerned as she wondered what was going through his head. She was half tempted to kick him but something about him seemed rather fragile in that moment. So her usual crass and tactless techniques of getting his attention would probably not work in her favour.

So instead she let him be for the moment and turned her attention back to the room. She was so damnably tired but Burk had 'escorted' her back to her share quarters with Rachel. It would have been fine except for the fact that she had no pain killers in there and after Mike's bed. Well, sleeping on Rachel's bunk without pain killers seemed to only make Kate's body hate her even more. So she decided to come back and see how the trial was progressing and scam some pain killers for night before going back to the share quarters as she highly doubted she could get into Mike's stateroom without being seen.

"I thought you'd be asleep right now" Tom said Kate.

"Yeah, well it was my plan too but ran out of pain meds. Couldn't sleep" Kate told him.

"Couldn't find your shoes either" he commented Kate gave him a serene yet mocking smile.

"Shoes are overrated but I promise when I find them, I'll wear them" She told him, she looked to the tent "They aren't doing well" she commented about those in the trial.

"No, they aren't but the doctors are working on it" Tom told her, Kate gave a nod as she understood he was trying to remain positive. They lapsed into a somewhat companionable silence as there was really nothing to discuss at least nothing they could discuss in their current location. Tom moved to stand by the tent looking into it and Kate winced and she sat back in the chair. Fatigue washed over her as it had been way too long since she had left the comforts of Mike's bed. She looked at Mike and watched him as he twisted his signet ring around his finger. He hadn't acknowledged her presence yet or even looked her way. It upset her to be ignored but given his demeanour she felt something deeper was going on but she couldn't just ask as it showed a familiarity to him that they had said they wouldn't display in front of crew or Tom.

So all she could do for the moment was sit near him and watch while she waited for one of the doctors to free up to give her some pain killers to help her sleep. She gave a sigh and closed her eyes, not meaning to drift off to sleep but doing so anyway.

* * *

Tom shifted on his feet. Fatigue kicking in as it was getting late and his muscles ached to sit down he turned around and saw Kate had fallen asleep in her chair. He shook his head but was inwardly glad as she had just given him the perfect excuse to jerk Mike out of the trance he seemed to be in. He made small whistle noise getting Mike's attention. Tom pointed to Kate and Mike turned to see her slouched in the chair.

"Get her out of here" he told Mike. The man nodded and much to Tom's chagrin did as he ordered. He couldn't believe he just ordered his XO to take said lady to his bed but at least it got Mike out of his headspace and out of the room for a few minutes.

* * *

Kate could of sworn she had just closed her eyes when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She awoke with a start and grabbed the hand as her heart pounded furiously at the shock. She looked to owner and saw it was Mike.

"Hey" he said in a soft tone to her.

"Hey" she replied as she took slow and steady breaths. "What's going on?" she asked as she released his hand and weakly pushed herself up in the chair. She winced as the pain was unbearable.

"You need pain killers and a proper bed. Come on" he told her as he held out his hand. She was too tired to argue as she took his hand. He pulled her to her feet and slowly followed him to the door.

They walked in silence all the way through the ship until they made it to his stateroom, he opened the door and she stepped through giving a heady sigh of relief. He closed the door behind them and she turned to face him.

"How are you going?" she asked the question had been eating away at her for the past ten minutes.

"I'm fine" he told her but she saw through the lie with ease as he was moving between the bedroom and the main area of the stateroom at such a speed it was giving her motion sickness.

"Well, could you slow down?" she asked him. She pulled off the sling and tossed it on the lounge as her neck was sore from having to support her arm.

"What are you doing?" he asked her as she rubbed the back of her neck with her left hand while her right hand clung to her shirt to keep it in a 'sling' position. "You need to keep the sling on" he told her as he had her pain meds and a bottle of water with him.

"My neck is sore, actually my everything is sore and I'm worried about you" Kate said to him.

"You don't have to be worried about me" he said as he placed two tablets into her palm and uncapped a bottle of water and held out to her. Kate took the tablets and downed them with the water before she handed the bottle back to him.

"It comes with the territory of caring about you" Kate told him, he took a long pull of the water himself but he wasn't in the room with her. Well, physically he was but his mind was back in the lab. He capped the water and placed it on his desk. He looked ready to take off but before he could take a step towards the door, Kate grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled on it. He lurched slightly in her direction as he hadn't expected the manoeuvre but recovered quickly.

"Hey, stop" Kate told him. "Take a breather" she suggested to him.

"I have to work" he told her, knowing she would back off and let him go but she gave him a concerned look.

"Standing there and watching them die is not work." Kate told him in a callous tone as she wanted to get his attention and it worked.

"They are my crew which means I support them-" Mike started to explain but Kate cut him off.

"And who's supporting the 200 or so who aren't in Quarantine while you and the Captain run yourselves into the ground watching this trial?" she asked him. Mike looked at her coldly for a long moment before he pried her fingers from his shirt.

"I don't have time for this" he told her, he moved to the door and pointed to the phone "If you need me dial" He rattled off a three digit number "And I'll come but right now I have to go as I have a duty to my crew" Mike said, he opened the door and left before Kate could say another thing.

Kate cursed under her breath and pressed her hand to her forehead as couldn't figure out what was eating at Mike and he obviously wasn't going to tell her now that she had successfully pissed him off. The sad part was that she wasn't going to get an opportunity to find out or even try to reconcile with him until he came back to her.


	39. Chapter 39

_A/N: Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas and New years! just letting you all have a heads up that new chapters might take a little while to come as I'm starting to think ahead to the next story as I finish up this one as I want it to be a continuation.. So thank you for sticking around and the past and future reviews! Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 39**

* * *

"That was quick" Tom commented when Mike returned to the Helo bay. He kind of expected Mike to be gone for an hour at least or he hoped. One of them had to take a break from watching the trial. It wasn't getting any easier to stand here and watch the six participants slowly die in front of him. He couldn't help but feel this whole exercise had been in vain given that there were no signs of six people would live the night. He also couldn't shrug off the guilt that it should have been him in there not standing here on the sidelines.

"You expected me to be a while?" Mike asked casual but even Tom could feel the hostility rolling off the man. He knew he was going to playing with fire when he mentioned Kate but she was the only explanation he could think of.

"Lassiter was walking pretty slow" Tom remarked as he noted Mike's mood darken. He wasn't too sure if he was happy with two hating one another or being copacetic.

"She's fine, couple of pain killers and she was out for the count" Mike said dismissively. Tom quirked an eyebrow as it wasn't the answer he was expecting. They lapsed into silence.

Tom couldn't help between the activity in the quarantined tent and his XO as Mike was stared into the room. The same expression of anxiety and guilt that had been on Mike's face slowly returned which was not comforting. He wondered not for the first time what kind of mental toll this trial was taking on all them. He saw Mike's hands drift behind his back and knew the man was going to start twisting his damn signet ring.

"Mike, if you need to step out of this-" Tom started but Mike cut him off.

"Why would I need to do that?" Mike asked him.

"Because-" Tom stopped as he couldn't just say that he didn't like Mike torturing himself by watching these people die from a virus his son died from. The fact that Mike hadn't spoken about since he first told Tom over 6 months ago much openly displayed his emotions on the subject except displaced anger and bitterness whenever Tom decided to take lead on a mission and leave the ship in his command.

"It might be hitting too close to home" Tom finished as he tried to be as delicate as he could be given that there was no easy way to say it. Mike gave him a patronising look which Tom let slide because even he would of told himself to take a hike after that reasoning.

"Hard to find anyone who wouldn't find this situation hitting too close to home right now" Mike told him tersely as he didn't like being treated with kid gloves.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better" Tom said as he kept his eyes forward and said nothing more as he wanted the decision to stay or go to be Mike's.

* * *

A few hours later and Tom's prediction that things would get worse was coming to pass.

"Hush, little baby, don't say a word Mommy's gonna buy you a mockingbird" Garnett sang to Lt Forster "Hi. Hi, honey." She cooed as she leaned over the young woman "Oh, your hair is all in your face. It's so pretty." She gently stroked Lt Forster's hair "And if that mockingbird won't sing Mommy's gonna buy you a diamond ring" she continued to sing in a delirious tone. Rachel came over to them and gently pulled the blanket from Lt Forster's feet up and over the young woman to keep her warm. She gently touched Garnet's back and the woman looked over her shoulder. She didn't even stop singing as she smiled serenely at Rachel.

"They're delirious." Tom stated, in a calm manner that belied how he was actually feeling. Mike couldn't agree more with him as Jeter, Gibson, Miller and Lt Forster were incapacitated by the virus. Garnett and Tex were the only one's sitting up but even they didn't look so bright. He looked up from his card game, seeing Garnett sitting on Lt Foster's bed hallucinating that it was her daughter.

He had wondered if Lucas had called out for him or hallucinated he was there when he reached this stage of the virus. Christina hadn't gone into details about how Lucas had been when he died. What his last words were and Mike hadn't asked as he just took the verbal abuse from Christina for not being there; for leaving her alone to deal with it on her own.

That knot in his chest throbbed as it was too much to watch hence why he taken to playing cards. It was a poor distraction but had realised hours ago that he couldn't continue to stare into that tent and see Lucas' ghost in there. It was too painful and he was too tired to go back to his stateroom. He would have to deal with Kate at some point as she didn't know why he had to be here and he didn't want to explain it. He also didn't want to admit she was right that he was ignoring the rest of the crew and ignoring his duties. But she was wrong about his reasons for wanting to stay or his irrational need to see the trial to its end. The crew outside the Helo bay would need his and Tom's presence in the coming days. Something they really needed to be level headed and somewhat rested for which neither of them was.

"And if that looking glass gets broke Mommy's gonna buy you a billy goat And if that billy goat don't pull" Garnett continued to sing to Foster hallucinating that it was her daughter Lily.

Rachel moved to Tex's cot and Mike turned back to his cards. Not really seeing the game in front of him as he just aimlessly moved the cards around. He was about to scrap the game when Tom jerked to his feet. He turned and looked to the tent to see Tex had grabbed onto Rachel's hand.

"You make me want to love again." Tex said to her. Mike looked to Tom and saw the man relax back to leaning against the table with a rather stony expression on his face. Mike wondered what the cause behind the expression was given that Tex's declaration to Rachel was him most probably hallucinating that she was a woman he once knew and nothing more but before Mike could focus his attention on that he caught movement from the corner of his eye. He looked back to the tent to see Jeter sitting upright in his bed.

The man had his arms by his side and glassy eyed expression as he was covered in a heavy sheen of perspiration.

"Baby, it's me and I'm ready" Jeter said to seemingly no one in particular, Rachel rose from Tex's bunk.

"Master Chief" she said in a gentle chastising manner as she moved towards him. She was obviously going to tell him to lie down but Jeter didn't hear her as he stared directly ahead of him. Mike rose from his chair as Tom pushed off the table.  
"Baby, I've been strong." Jeter said as he rose from the bed to his feet. "I've tried to be strong" Jeter said as he moved towards the side of the quarantine tent. Rachel rushed into his way and gently tried to push him back.

"Master chief, sit down." She ordered as she was met with resistance.  
"I want to see my girls" Jeter said, the IV stand clattered to the floor as Mike and Tom rushed around to the side of the tent. Where are they?" Jeter asked.

"Get me a sedative." Rachel ordered as she now struggled against Jeter but she was no match for his strength. He leaned down and ripped out his arm cannula as he continued to shout for his daughters.  
"Sarah, Annie, my girls!" Jeter shouted.

"Master Chief, let's sit down." Rachel suggested to him but he wasn't hearing her. Whatever he was hallucinating was too strong for him to see reason. She pushed against him and pulled on his arm, panic gripping her as she couldn't have hold him but she also couldn't have him break the quarantine seals on the tent which he would do if he continued on his path. There was barely a foot between Jeter and the plastic partition.

"Russ Master Chief!" Tom shouted through the tent at Jeter but the man was delirious.

"Sedative!" Rachel cried out wishing Quincy would hurry up before it was too late. It was taking all of her strength to wrestle him back and still wasn't enough as she felt her feet sliding backwards as Jeter progressed forwards.

"I want to come with you now!" Jeter confessed and half begged.

"Master Chief!" Tom boomed at the man as Rachel cried out for a sedative. "Look at me, Russ." He pointed at himself "Look at me. You're hallucinating." He told Jeter in a loud and firm tone hoping, wishing the man would snap out of his delirium before it was too late.

"Master Chief, it's not real" Tom told him but Jeter continued crying out for his daughters. Tophet and Rachel vainly tried to pull Jeter back but Rachel's grip slipped and she stumbled back.  
"Where are my girls?" Jeter shouted in complete distress as Tophet was in front of him pushing him back. Tom wondered how long the sedative was going to take to be administered as Jeter was only a few good steps away from breaking quarantine.

"It's me Tom." Tom shouted at Jeter trying to keep eye contact. "It's not real, Master Chief!"

" I want to see them" Jeter demanded, Tom saw a flurry of movement from behind Jeter as Rios handed off a syringe to Rachel and with a bit of work managed to put Jeter into an arm lock and turn him away from the plastic wall of the tent and face first into his cot and hold him there as Rachel administered the sedative.

Jeter continued to cry out for girls as if they had taken him away from them and punishing him by holding him down. It was heartbreaking to watch their esteemed colleague and friend look so utterly broken as Doc Rios gently assured him that he was alright and everything was just a dream. Slowly Jeter's body relaxed as the sedative took hold. Tom looked to Rachel to see her dispose of the syringe and clutch her hands to her chest. The long hours and the latest event had left her in obvious shock but before they could even take a sigh of relief Miller shouted.  
"Doc?! Hey, doc!" he shouted, Tom and Mike looked in his direction and looked past him to Gibson who wasn't moving. Her eyes were open and looking nowhere in particular her face frozen as she had a stream of blood coming from her nose.

He watched as Rachel rushed over to Gibson, leaving Tophet and Rios to care for Jeter. She knelt down beside Gibson's cot and immediately felt for a pulse. Tom held in his breath as he silently prayed the young woman was having a seizure. Lt Forster had had that same stillness, that same frozen expression before she started seize but after a couple of minutes passed, Rachel dropped her head and heaved a breath before she looked to him and gave a slight shake of her head. Tom felt his world bottom out as he wanted to shout at Rachel to bring the young woman back. They had lost enough people on this crew and she had promised them a vaccine. Yet in that moment and not the first time; he felt she had done was given him false hope and brought death on his ship.

Mike looked down at Maya Gibson's remains and felt the need to leave. It was a complete 180 from his earlier need to stay to see it all through but maybe it was that he now saw firsthand the rigors of virus and what did to a person instead of just the end result. The mystery was gone and now felt he could walk away but in no way did he feel a sense of finality or closure.

In fact he felt worse and right now he just wanted to walk away before he overwhelmed by his own selfish inner turmoil. The fact that they had just lost another member of their crew just added to his burden and pain. He briefly looked to the others noting that the tone in the room was incredibly sombre as they were all shaken by Gibson's seemingly silent death. Rachel and Tom were both taking it harder than the others.

But it was to be expected given only hours ago that Tom said he hadn't wanted anymore funerals. Yet, looking around at the others; Mike knew they would be sending more bodies to the sea. It was the harsh and unfair reality they lived in. They watched in silence as Rios and Tophet made quick work of placing Gibson's remains into a black body bag. Rachel stood to the side, she hadn't said a word and Mike figured she was probably having a crisis of her confidence given the lack of success.

Miller mumbled something but Mike couldn't hear the words and frankly he didn't want to as he had no words to share and there was no comfort he could give the boy. Even if he did they would be meaningless given he was standing outside in relative safety while Miller and the others were inside dying for their cause.

They watched as Rios pulled the zip closing the body bag before Tophet laid a biohazard bag over the top. Mike thought it redundant given they all knew how she died.

"I'll make arrangements for the service." Mike said breaking the silence and using the immediacy of getting back to work as a distraction. He looked to Tom who was staring down at body bag.  
"I want her given the Navy Cross." Tom told him in a low and grave tone. Mike made note of it and gave a nod walking out of the room before Tom could call him back.

* * *

Kate had been drifting in and out of sleep until she woke up to the bed dipping. She opened her eyes feeling bleary eyed from drugs to find the room was pitch black. Something she didn't remember from before as she had left the lights on for Mike; hoping he would come back and also because she didn't want accidentally stub her toe or fall over in the dark. She felt a warm hand brush over her right shoulder blade. In her heady drug induced state and barely awake she gave a sigh and smiled as she knew it was Mike or at least she hoped it was him. Her body hummed in delight, happy that he was there. His arm around her middle tightened as he pulled her flush against his body; spooning her from behind.

"Hey" she murmured as she adjusted her body settling in as he slid his arm under her neck and curled it around her neck. She felt his breath caress her neck before he pressed his lips to the curve of her neck. For the longest time they laid there in silence just soaking up the moment as it felt good to be held. To just be together without all the drama of the outside world intruding or so Kate felt until Mike spoke.

"Why do people say 'lost' or 'gone' when someone's died?" Mike asked in a low voice to her, she frowned as it wasn't what she expected him to say and frankly she had been half way back to sleep when he spoke.

"huh?" Kate asked but due to the drugs it came out sounding like a weird questioning noise. She felt him press his forehead to her shoulder and vainly ordered her brain to wake up as this was not a conversation she should sleep through.

"My boy is gone" Mike mumbled despondently into her shoulder, Kate felt her eyes tear up as he sounded utterly destroyed by his own statement but kept silent. She kept silent because there was nothing she could say that wouldn't sound trite and she knew this would probably be the only time he spoke of Lucas and his grief.

"It sounds like he's just 'gone' off with friends. I could say 'lost' but then it sounds like I accidentally misplaced him. There's no right way of saying it to express the -" Mike stopped as his throat clogged up for just a moment. He took a moment and exhaled slowly before he continued. "He died from this virus. He died and I wasn't there. I- I wasn't there" Mike said, it was what burned him the most, it was what he couldn't seem to accept or forgive himself of. He was able to let go of missing things in the past when it came to his kids. Birthdays, sports games and dance recitals missed because he was deployed. He usually told himself he'd make it up to them but now he wasn't going to get the chance. The truly crushing part of it all was that he was going to miss watching Lucas be happy, grow older, get his first car, have arguments about Motorcycles… He tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her neck vainly trying to banish his pain with holding her.

Kate felt Mike tighten his arms around her and buried his face in her neck. She winced not from just the physical pain that momentarily snapped her brain of its drug fog but also because of how tortured he sounded. The pain and grief; he was bearing to her was heart breaking. So much so, she wanted to turn around to face him and hold her in his arms but Mike's hold on her was unforgiving as it locked her place. She knew she could tell him to ease up on her and loosen his hold but she didn't want to because she felt it would shatter the intimacy of the moment. It was selfish of her but she knew Mike rarely opened himself up to anyone so she wasn't going to give him a reason to shut her out just because she couldn't take a little bit of a strong hug.

"No, you were stuck here. 'Stuck' being the important word to remember; If you had a choice and if you had known; you would have been there with him" Kate told him in a sleep roughened voice, she felt Mike's arms loosen and bit her bottom lip and tried to quell the nausea that rolled over her whilst her pain slowly dissipated.

"It doesn't change anything" Mike said despondently as he lifted his head from her neck.

"no, it doesn't" Kate commiserated as she knew there was nothing she could say or do to alleviate his pain except listen to him and be there with him. They laid there in silence for a long moment not saying anything and Kate felt herself slowly drift as her meds pulled her back into a stupor.

"I just want to go home" he murmured against her skin. He hated how pitiful he sounded but his words and their sentiment rang true as he was tired of everything. He was just grateful that Kate didn't say anything and just accepted his words without cracking a joke or trying to give him a pep talk as he just needed to get the words out of him. He was half tempted to tell her about the trial and explain to her what was going through his head but couldn't do it as he wasn't going to lay all his burdens at her feet for her to carry.

* * *

"So these aren't side effects from the vaccine" Tom asked Tophet. He needed someone to clarify the situation and the options left to them as he had no idea what he was looking at in there. All he knew was that it wasn't going well and he was partially responsible as it was his crew in there and his 'mission' that had them all trapped on this ship waiting for a cure or even just a vaccine to beat this virus. The end goal that he had felt was in sight a couple days ago now felt a long unforeseeable distance away from them. He couldn't stand the thought of asking the crew to trust him when all he had shown was nothing but failure after failure. He needed this to be a win but with Gibson's death, it was shaping into another black mark for him and yet another burden for him to carry.

"It is the virus." Tophet said in a firm manner that said he was completely convinced in his opinion.  
"You're certain?" Tom asked him, he wasn't sure if he should trust Tophet after everything but the man was calm and adamant in his opinion. Rachel on the otherhand had disappeared entirely. Not that he blamed her, she and Rios had performed the autopsy on Gibson to find the cause of her death but even he could see the woman was shaken by the lack of success.

"Yes." Tophet said just as the side door opened and Rachel came into the room. She obviously had heard the question and disagreed with Tophet as she spoke over his 'yes'.  
"No, he can't be. Maya died from a heart attack, which is not a symptom of the virus." Rachel argued. Tom looked to her noting that she looked like she had been crying and washed her face to cover it but the bloodshot water eyes gave her away. That and her usual calm demeanour in the face of difficultly was gone as she paced the small space and picked up random paper only to put it down. She was erratic and emotional which didn't give him any comfort.  
"But liver failure is. And that's what caused her blood pressure to drop. The fevers, the delirium, the haemorrhaging. There is no other explanation." Tophet argued with Rachel. Tom looked to her waiting for her response.  
There is one." Rachel told them but she had a resigned look, "We just haven't found it yet." She added. Tom watched as the two began to argue but he could see it wasn't constructive.  
"No whoa, whoa, whoa." Tom said as he waved his hands to get their attention before the two became too engrossed in their bickering. He looked to Tophet first who right now was the most confident and collected out of the two scientists. "What's your solution?" he asked him.

"I.V.I.G. immunization." Tophet answered but before Tom could asked Rachel her opinion she spoke.  
"It could kill her." Rachel said looking at Tophet in disappointment and anger.  
"Kill who?" Tom asked her as he didn't really understand what Tophet had said. He understood the words 'passive' and 'immunization' but the rest went over his head.

"Bertrise." Rachel clarified for him. She heaved a breath and looked at him square on. "He wants to use the plasma from her blood and inject it directly into the patients-" she didn't get to finish as Tophet spoke over her.

"to give them her antibodies." Tophet said.  
"No, Quincy! The amount of blood that we'd need to take from Bertrise I am not willing to risk her life!" Rachel shouted at him.

"Well, I'm not gonna sit here and watch them die." Bertrise said in a quavering voice as she walked around the side of the quarantine tent. The young woman clutched her arms to her chest and looked utterly distraught by what was going on. Tom felt for her as she was too young to be witnessing this but he couldn't tell her to go as she was technically an adult and she was the reason they had made it this far in their search for a vaccine. He watched as Rachel moved to the young woman and grabbed her by the arms.

"You are too important, Bertrise" Rachel stressed to her "And if it's not the virus that's causing this, it won't make the slightest bit of difference." Rachel implored hoping the young woman heard her words and understood that the mistakes that had been made in the lab were not her fault. If they were anyone's fault it was hers as she was the one who said the vaccine was ready to be tested. But obviously they had missed something vital. Not that Tom can begrudge them for making mistakes as it would have been hypocritical.

"But if it is the virus, we can save can manage it." Tophet said directly to Tom. Tom looked at Bertrise for a long moment weighing the options. They could do what Tophet suggested and it could work or do nothing and watch the five remaining people die. He wished he could side with Rachel on this as he could the woman was tearing herself apart to make this trial work and keep Bertrise safe but at the end of the day he needed his Master Chief and Chief Engineer more.

"If there's a chance, we have to take it." Tom said subtly telling Rachel that he wanted to do the I.V.I.G. passive immunisation treatment even if it risked Bertrise's life and even if it didn't work. They had to try. He saw Rachel shake her head in disappointment. She was disappointed in him for his decision but it was something they would have to deal with later.

* * *

A few hours later,

"Is it time to get up?" Kate asked half groaned in dissatisfaction as an annoying beeping sounded in the room. The one downside of pain meds was the massive hang over in the morning which the current noise emitting from the other room was not helping. She barely lifted her head and the room span at a nauseating pace. she had thought Mike coming to bed last night had been a hokey drug dream of hers and not a reality.

"Not for you, go back to sleep" Mike told her as he pulled himself away from her body and went out of the bedroom to the phone on the wall by the door. It was adorable hearing her struggle to wake up and the fact that even now he could hear her cursing a blue streak of words that nearly had him blushing. She obviously had rolled onto her right side forgetting her injuries only to be greeted with pain.

"Go ahead" Mike said into the phone receiver.

"Mike" Tom's voice carried over the line. Mike immediately winced as he realised his mistake in picking up the phone as it told Tom that he was in his stateroom. He really didn't want to open that can of worms with Tom again and frankly at this point he was going to have to choose his words carefully. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, actually that was a lie he had wanted a sleep for a few hours but it wasn't a luxury he could afford at the moment.

He'd forgotten how good it was to be wrapped around Kate even if he did have dead arm from having Kate sleep on it. It had been worth the pins and needles he was feeling as the blood moved back into his lower arm and hand.

"Yeah" he replied as he flexed the fingers on his left hand to help the blood circulate faster.

"I need to see you in Hangar Two" Tom told him.

"Give me five to pack up my paperwork and I'll be there" Mike replied but he knew he wasn't fooling Tom in the slightest. But then Mike couldn't leave his stateroom until he put his pants and jacket back on.

"Ok" Tom said, the line clicked as Tom hung up on his end. Mike hung up the phone and walked back to bedroom where Kate was lying on the bed with her left hand over her eyes. With the door open the light from the lamp poured in creating enough shadows for him to make her features out.

She had kicked off the blanket and for a moment he was distracted by the fine silhouette of her lean body. It also didn't help his concentration or erection given she was wearing nothing but a loose singlet top and hipster boyleg cotton underwear. All he could think was how beautiful she was and how he couldn't wait to reacquaint himself with her body as his mind filled up with erotic images, memories of Kate.

"You ok there?" Kate asked snapping Mike out of his thoughts as she had lifted her hand up from her eyes and was looking at him like she had woken up with a bad hangover judging how she squinted her eyes in the minimal lighting. She was definitely not ready for any of the activities he wanted to share with much to their mutual disappointment.

"Yeah" he said as she caught his staring at her body. He was going to have to cover said body if he wanted to get out of this room with some semblance of self control. Hell, he needed to cover up his own body so it got the message that it was work time, not play time.

"It doesn't hurt" she told him.

"What doesn't?" he asked as he picked up his pants from where he left them last night.

"My injuries" she said, Mike gave her a sceptical look given that he heard her cursing up a storm less than five minutes ago and her current expression. He half expected her to tell him how an orgasm was all she needed to feel better. "I know it looks bad but I'm not so fragile that we can't-" Kate started to say but Mike needed to cool down not have Kate feed his overactive imagination.

"Tempting but I'll raincheck to a time and place where I have more than five minutes" Mike told her, Kate gave a nod and he secretly hoped she wasn't going to talk dirty because he really didn't want to be sporting an erection through ship much less while trying to have a serious conversation with Tom.

"So, who was on the phone?" she asked him, much to Mike's relief as she changed the direction of the conversation.

"Tom, he needs me down in the Helo bay. Ship business" Mike told her as he pulled on his pants and zipped them up before fixing the belt around his waist.

"How much sleep did you get?" she asked him. Mike looked at his watch noting the time. He could have sworn it had been longer.

"two and half hours" Mike told her.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" Kate asked him in a teasing tone, a dopey smile played across her lips.

"Yeah, it was" he said, he smiled as he couldn't help it. After the last 48 hours, it was good smile and want to laugh and he was also glad she didn't look like she going to bring up what he said last night, maybe he was lucky and she didn't remember. "Maybe we could have a quickie this afternoon?" he offered as he pulled on his jacket and moved to the bedside table to pick up his radio. He quickly attached it to his jacket lapel and his belt before he went over to her pile of folded clothing and pulled out a pair of wide leg pants.

"Definitely" Kate told him. "What are you doing?" she asked confused as she expected him to run out of the room not rummage through her clothing.

"Helping you put on your pants and shoes before I go" he told her as he quickly threaded her pants onto her legs. She gave him an unimpressed look but lifted her hips complying as he slid the pants up into place.

"I'd prefer you to take my clothes off not put them on me" She said frowning as she buttoned her pants and zipped up the fly for herself as she didn't appreciate him dressing her given she wanted to sleep some more.

"Can't have you running around in your underwear with bare feet, it's an OHSA issue" he told her as he put on her socks with practised ease but then after having three kids; he was an expert at wrestling clothes on unwilling participants.

"What if I wanted to shower this morning?" she asked him, quietly amused that Mike was dressing her but also a little annoyed as she went from feeling sexy to feeling like a kid. It didn't help that he tied her shoe laces of her sneakers in that way that just smacked of parental airs and reduced her to feeling like she was four years old.

"You showered last night" He told her.

"How would you know that?" she asked, her shower had definitely been interesting and she was probably lucky she survived it at all.

"You had a splotch of moisturiser on the back of your neck. You only moisturise after a shower" he told her as he finished tying her other shoe with the flair of a father. _All he has to do is say the Rabbit song for tying shoes..._ Kate thought grimly as she knew when she was getting a brush off.

"Did you rub it in for me?" she asked and he chuckled as he knew she was more concerned about wasted moisturiser than his observations of her personal hygiene habits.

"Yeah I did" he assured her.

"Thanks" she said with grimace as there was no way she was going to get her 'sexy' vibe going on after he dressed her in less than a minute. "Hey, do I want to go down there?" she asked him referring to the trial. She watched Mike's expression grow grim as he took a deep breath and gave a nod.

"You should come down and see for yourself. Just prepare yourself for the worst" Mike told her.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

* * *

"We have a situation" Tom said when Mike entered Hanger bay two, he had to admit he preferred it when the room housed a Helo instead of this makeshift and chaotic meeting room. It was the fact that he looked at all the haphazardly stacked boxes and just saw a lot of OSHA paperwork in his future or two pissed of scientists when they hit rough seas and something expensive broke. It annoyed him but then he had been in a sour mood since leaving Kate dressed and frustrated in his quarters. It should have been the other way round; he should have left her naked and satisfied but he couldn't break his own rules.

"Ok, what's going on?" Mike asked him, tearing his eyes away from the mess and his thoughts to look at Tom who was sitting at the table looking angry and bleary eyed from no sleep. He was grateful for just his small amount given as it seemed to even out his mood. It also helped to just hold Kate and wallow in his own self pity and grief. Luckily she had been too drugged out to remember or so he assumed as she didn't mention anything about it this morning. Knowing Kate she would have mentioned something even if it was to ask if he was 'ok' in that awkwardly cute way as she was horrible at expressing and dealing with emotions in more than a superficial manner.

"Lt Forster is pregnant" Tom told him. Mike felt a mixture of anger and disappointment at the statement. Mike much like Tom liked to pretend the Nathan James had a clean record of no pregnancies on the ship but they had a couple here and there over the years. It was disappointing and frustrating to deal with given that everyone knew the rules and regulations yet still broke them. It also pissed him off when people were caught as their remorse of their actions seemed contrived and insulting for everyone else who managed to behave appropriately and keep their sex lives reserved for when they were off the ship.

He also hated the double standard; it took two to make a baby yet only the woman was punished severely while the man barely a slap on the wrist. If the world hadn't caved in on itself they would have been making arrangements for Lt Forster to be rotated onto shore duty and an inquiry would have been conducted on the ship so the Navy could prosecute charge Lt Forster but also Lt Green with fraternisation and dereliction of their duties. Someone would have lost a rank, or be dishonourably discharged. Tom and he would have to wait for replacement for Lt Forster but it looked like the couple had lucked out with the current world climate.

"Are we going to inform Lt Green?" Mike asked.

They weren't legally obligated to inform the Lieutenant and frankly given how badly the trial was going; it wasn't going to be the best news to share. It also raised a lot of questions about what they were going to in the long term. They couldn't exactly notify command and have Lt Forster returned to shore and they didn't have the facilities to deal with a pregnant woman or a baby long term. It was a military vessel not a cruise liner and definitely not a maternity ward. It only reminded him of his earlier thoughts of Kate and children but he shook them off as the situation was different given they wouldn't be on the ship. But even he had a niggling doubt wondering if maybe this was an issue they would have to address at a later date.

"If it were me I'd want to know but frankly I don't want to tell him this given the situation" Tom said. Mike nodded as he was doing his best not to have his own personal opinion and emotions on the matter weigh in. In some ways it would be a saving grace to save Lt Green the grief of losing a child by not telling him but then secrets had a way of coming out. To know your commanding officers kept the information that your girlfriend died with your unborn child was not conducive to good working relationship.

"So you want me to tell him?" Mike asked offering to tell Lt. Green but he was relieved when Tom shook his head.

"No, I will tell the man. I just wanted you to be aware before I did so as we going to have to start talking about the future of this ship" Tom said.

"Ok, well on another note; I've made the arrangements for Gibson's funeral but we won't be able to hold the ceremony until after the doc releases the remains" Mike said changing the topic as they would discuss the 'future' another time as the trial and it's failure or success would determine their path.

"I'd rather we wait until after the trial. I should go see Lt Green" Tom told him as he pushed up from his chair to his feet.

* * *

Kate stepped into Hangar Bay one and thanked Ensign Mason as the young man had opened and closed the door for her. She watched as he moved to a cot where Bertrise laid, the girl was hooked up to a bag of saline and blood. Kate frowned as she wondered what she had missed. She turned her attention to the quarantine tent and immediately saw the empty bed at the back. Mike had said the trial was bad but he said nothing about one of the six participants dying. But in his defence; she hadn't asked.

She walked up to the plastic wall and looked in surveying the others. None of them looked well, not even Tex. He looked to be asleep but as she drew closer his eyes snapped open and he jolted upright. The sudden movement made her jump back in surprise which made her bump right into Tophet.

"Sorry" Kate said to him before she looked back at Tex. The man she saw inside the tent was a shell of the person she knew. There was no signature smile or quip coming from him as he looked to be in immense pain as he laid back down on the bed and curled his body up.

"Are you ok?" Tophet asked Kate as she backed away from him quickly as she had bumped into him with her injured arm. Pain shot through her, Tophet must have seen her pain. It also didn't help that she was sporting a killer hangover from the meds or a bad mood for having Mike dress her like she was a child and then run off without even some token of affection. It was just a weird morning and so far it left her frustrated, annoyed and confused. Add in her aches and pains and she just knew today was going to be a bad day.

"Yeah, what's going on?" she asked him as she rubbed her arm wincing as the pain in her arm subsided.

"The vaccine didn't work-" Tophet started but Kate cut him off.

"So they are dying" Kate stated cutting Tophet off as she didn't want a full explanation. Just the facts as they were easier to swallow than being confused by all the medical jargon.

"We haven't given up yet" Tophet assured her and Kate gave him a wry smile. She had spent too long being pragmatic and callous to be fooled into positive thinking and hope would save the day.

"And when you do give up, then out comes the morphine right?" she asked him as she looked toward the tent, she was steeling herself for worst.

"We prefer-" Tophet started but Kate cut him off.

"I didn't ask for the afternoon special you're giving everyone Doc. I want to know what's going on gore and all" Kate told him as she really just wanted to know the truth and not be fed a line of bullshit that was supposed to make her feel 'better'.

"We're still exploring our options" Tophet said uncomfortably, Kate looked him head on as he hadn't answered the question for her but dodged it in a fashion that could probably save him from being sued. If being sued had ever been an issue.

"So pretty with your words Doc. What happens when you're out of options?" Kate asked him. She had looked inside and seen their faces. The expression Tex wore told her that mentally he had checked out. The only thing keeping him there was that his body hadn't given out yet. She sometimes questioned her own humanity as she couldn't see the purpose in dragging out a person's life if they are were too far gone like those in the tent. It just seemed cruel.

"Then we'll address the situation then" Tophet answered uncomfortably.

"I assume-" Kate stopped as the interconnecting door to hangar bay 2 opened and Mike stepped through with a cup of coffee in hand. She turned her attention back to Tophett and continued "I assume it will be an overdose of Morphine?" she asked. Tophett shifted slightly and folded his arms across his chest.

"Basically yes but it's a more complicated process than that" he told her, Kate gave him a sceptical look as she wondered how much of an idiot he took her for.

"I'm sure, but given the situation we're in is it wise to use up our finite medical resources to put these people out of their misery?" Kate asked Tophet. The man was confused as he probably didn't expect her to question their methods but she couldn't help but wonder if an excess of Morphine was a wise use of medication given how limited their supplies were. That and how horrible it was to watch someone die from an overdose of morphine, it wasn't as peaceful as it looked on TV like most ways to die it was messy and frightening.

"What would you suggest?" Tophet asked her in that same sceptical manner like she was not capable of understanding the gravity of the situation. She was starting to feel insulted by his attitude but before she could say anything Mike decided in his infinite wisdom to join the conversation.

"Trust me when I say you wouldn't like the answer Dr Tophet" Mike told him. Kate looked him over noting he was his usual calm and detached self. Basically they were playing their roles of not being anything but acquaintances or was it colleagues who vaguely got along but also butted heads. She really couldn't remember as all she wanted to do was stop pretending and just be whatever the hell they were supposed to be.

It wasn't like she was going to jump him in the hallway and put on a show but she would like to be able to physically lean on him or get a hug when she needed it. Like right now if she could, she wanted to lean on him and have him hold her even with one arm while he finished his coffee. But no, they couldn't do something so innocuous as that as it would be misconstrued by the crew and Tom.

"Of course, it all comes down to guns" Tophet said with distaste assuming the military only saw guns as the answer. Kate rolled her eyes as it was incredibly cliché for Tophet to assume as much. She expected better of him.

"That would be a waste of bullets and incredibly messy. There are other methods that are quicker without using up our resources and dragging out their deaths" Kate told him. Mike gave Tophet a look of 'I told you so' as the British man had paled somewhat at Kate's comment and her banal tone. She couldn't help it if her being truthful was rather scary though she did overplay her banal regard for taking life.

"And if you were in there one of those patients-" Tophet started but Kate cut him to the chase.

"Yes, I'd rather be killed swiftly than endure an overdose of morphine but it's a personal preference of mine." Kate told him, Tophet looked slightly disturbed by her honesty and she didn't blame him. Many people didn't understand that she was rather emotionally disengaged about most things; death being one of them. Tophet opened his mouth to argue with her as most people did but Mike cut Kate to the chase in telling him not to bother.

"Doc, don't start to argue the morals and ethics of the situation especially with Kate. She's morally ambiguous which can make her seem cold and inhuman, she'll tell you it's an Australian thing but it's just her" Mike said before taking a sip of coffee. Kate's mouth fell open as she couldn't believe he had just insulted her like that.

"I'm going back in there" Tophet said knowing it was time for him to leave.

"Keep me posted" Mike said to the man as Tophet walked away. Mike turned to Kate and he took a sip of his coffee as Kate turned to face him. She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Cold and inhuman?" she asked perturbed at the description only because it hit a little too close to home for her and she most definitely didn't like hearing it from Mike of all people.

Sure she was pragmatic but not 'cold' or 'inhuman'. But she understood why he said it because even she wished she had that same perverse need that they had because then maybe she'd feel a little more normal given that she was the only one on the ship not emotionally bogged down by the trials. Yes, she was concerned for Tex but at the end of the day she would cry when he died but right now all she felt was a sense of duty to her friendship with him to be down in the Hangar bay. But then that's how she operated, she crammed all of her emotions down into a small box inside of herself and saved it for later. It blamed it on her military training but she had learned to compartmentalise her emotions long before she joined up.

"It's compliment, not everyone can manage it" he told her, she didn't look convinced but before she could argue it he changed the subject. "How are you?" he asked her. She gave him a dark look.

"I'm in a foul mood and I have a hangover" Kate told him but it sounded more like a warning as she was still looking unimpressed by his earlier 'compliment'. "by the way I have a heart and feel guilt and a whole menagerie of emotions" she added as she eyed his cup of coffee; half tempted to ask for a sip to piss him off as she never to get between the man and his coffee but she knew it would only make her feel worse which made it not worthwhile trying.

"But when it comes to death you are chillingly pragmatic for the average person." Mike said holding his coffee a little closer to his person as he was not in the mood to share it with her. It was like he had read her mind about trying to steal it which gave her a better idea.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Kate asked him, changing the topic and using it to her advantage.

"Not hungry" Mike told her as he took another sip of his coffee.

"You should eat" Kate told him, even in her foul mood she was still concerned for him. That and if he passed out it would be a hard fall to the ground for him as there was no way she was volunteering to break his fall.

"I will later" he assured her. Kate quirked an eyebrow as she highly doubted that given that he and Tom practically lived in the hangar bay watching the five people slowly die.

"Coffee isn't food nor is it a food group like you seem to believe" Kate informed him dryly.

"Should be" Mike grumbled into his cup.

"Well given how you consume, I'm amazed you don't have the trots 24/7" Kate told him, Mike choked on his coffee. After a couple of good coughs, Mike cleared his throat and looked at Kate who now looked mildly amused and proud of herself as she knew he hated to waste coffee.

"Geez, do you have any tact?" he wheezed as he was pretty sure he still had some coffee in his lungs. She didn't know why but it made her smile in amusement to see him choke on his coffee.

"Nope and anyway you should feel flattered I'm marvelling your iron stomach" Kate said with a mocking smile. Mike pursed his lips looking unimpressed as he didn't want to talk about his bodily functions or health with Kate. Especially given that he felt like she was trying to get back at him for something; what it was? he had no idea.

"You don't have to be here" Mike told her.

"Tex would sit here for me, the least I can do is be here for him" Kate told him.

"I think he would understand given your injuries that you need to be looking after yourself. You should go back to bed and get some rest" Mike told her. Kate fought to not roll her eyes as it was a bit hypocritical of him to tell her to look after herself and get some rest when he was running himself into the ground.

* * *

Tom returned from informing Lt Green about Lt Forster's condition. It hadn't been easy and he offered the man the chance to see the Lieutenant but the man hadn't taken the news of the pregnancy well. So he left Lt. Green to deal with his conscience and emotions but fully expected Lt. Green to show up. Tom couldn't help but feel if Lt Green didn't show up that he would lose Tom's respect. It was obvious those inside the quarantine needed whatever comfort they could provide even if it's just to hold their hand and pretend that everything would be ok.

So he came back to the hangar bay one to continue watching the slow death of the remaining five in the trial. Tophet's idea to try and save the people in side had been a failure and Bertrise now laid in a cot by the desk that Rachel and two other doctors used to compare notes. She had survived the blood transfusions but had slipped into a deep sleep.

He watched Mike and Kate who at the front of the tent facing one another off. They were talking in hushed tones to one another which made it hard to discern what they were saying over all the noise of the ship's engines and the air conditioning systems. But the two looked to be talking casually, if somewhat sarcastically as Mike was wearing his 'don't sass me face' which was reassuring as it meant his XO was coping better. In fact the two talked as if they were somewhere else instead of standing in the hangar bay mere steps away from 5 people enduring a horrible death.

Whatever the two were talking about they looked rather perturbed at one another as Mike moved away from Kate and a moment later called to her as he rolled a stool chair in her direction. Kate stopped the stool with her foot and sat down looking rather uncomfortable at having to sit down. Mike of course didn't acknowledge her discomfort or was ignoring it as he walked over to Tom.

"How did he take the news?" Mike asked referring to Lt Green or so Tom assumed.

"As well as to be expected" Tom replied, exhausted. It made him wish that he had left the hangar bay for a couple of hours to decompress and get some sleep. But he knew if he had, then it wouldn't have helped as he wouldn't have been able to sleep. How could he with what was going on? What he did know was that he should of participated in the trial.

"Tophet said the treatment isn't working" Mike commented.

"Yes, it seems Dr Scott was right about something" Tom said shaking his head as he tried not to be angry given the woman's ability to know when something was a waste of time as he was waiting for her to tell him that she told him it hadn't worked. But even she looked defeated at the moment as she had hidden herself inside the tent to avoid talking with him. He didn't blame her as he wanted to shout at someone, vent his anger and she was the easiest target in the room as he had a lot of displeasure at her current conduct and lack of return on her promises.

"It was wishful thinking to hope it would all work out" Mike said stating the obvious.

"I know but I just wanted one victory" Tom said, he looked at Kate's back, she too seemed to be defeated and flagging in energy as she sat on the stool with slumped shoulders, swaying on the stool like the movement would keep her awake. "Everything ok with her?" Tom asked gesturing to Kate.

"No, she's in a foul mood. I recommend giving her a wide berth today" Mike warned him, he sounded casual but Tom knew the man was pissed off.

"What did you do?" Tom asked Mike quirked an eyebrow at the question.

"Nothing" Mike said a little too defensively than was necessary but it was the truth as he hadn't done anything to her purposely to put her in a foul mood. Though in hindsight, it probably didn't help that she was hungover from the pain meds and very little sleep. It was why he wanted her to go back to bed and rest. He was half tempted to carry her back to his stateroom and drug her to sleep but he didn't as it didn't sound like a fun activity and it was questionable at best morally speaking.

"When did she get here?" Tom asked out of curiosity.

"About 20 minutes ago" Mike answered before the door behind him opened and Lt Green stepped into the room.

* * *

Rachel pulled out all the boxes where she had stored the paper copies of all her previous research. The sound of the lone surviving monkey chirped odd noises at her as it groomed itself. It's perfect health seemingly mocking her but also fuelling her to find out why the damn monkey had survived. She pulled out numerous files open and their pages spread out across the table as she couldn't swallow Quincy's cliché that nothing could have been done differently.

She might have failed these six people but she was going to find out why. Granted only 10 minutes ago she had been bowling her eyes out and questioning her intelligence and her arrogance but now she had to get back to work. She also had to get back to work to use it as a distraction and because she knew as soon as those in the other room died Tom would be hounding her for answers. Answers she couldn't seem to find.

She stopped her frenetic movements and stepped back to take a breath. Her head pounded and she felt feverish from crying but she ignored it all as she vainly ordered herself to get back to work. But her mind was numb, complete despair filled her as she felt the futility of the situation. Hot tears filled her eyes and her emotions welled up in her throat threatening to come out and just as she was about to choke a sob the connecting door between the two hangars opened.

Rachel turned away from the door and wiped her face quickly as it was bad enough Quincy had seen her cry. She didn't want to add more people to the list especially if it was Tom which was why she kept her back to whoever it was. Rachel heard the door close followed by the sound of a chair scraping away from the table. Rachel took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat down before she turned to face the other occupant in the room to find it was Kate.

Slight relief washed over Rachel as she expected Kate to be the last person who would attack her or throw her clichéd pep talks. Two things Rachel didn't need.

"Hope you don't mind, the other room is a bit too much to handle with all the mushy emotional displays" Kate said in a casual manner as she slouched a little in her chair trying to get comfortable but failing. Rachel couldn't help but quirk her lips at Kate's comment as it was rather hypocritical of her; given past history. "I'll be quiet" Kate added.

"You're fine to stay. It's not like I'm going to find some miracle in the next hour to salvage this trial" Rachel sighed despondently as she folded back into her own feelings of defeat. She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table; looking at the mess wondering what the hell she was thinking just a few moments ago when she pulled the files apart and spread them as she had.

"It's somewhat comforting to know they won't suffer for much longer." Kate said pragmatically, Rachel wished she could summon just an ounce of the cold pragmatic nature Kate was showing.

"Yes" Rachel said sadly. She watched as Kate grimaced and couldn't help but wonder how Kate was still holding herself together given her injuries and the past week. But then she did notice that Kate had a light sheen of sweat and was looking incredibly washed out. Her face and body were tense but Rachel knew it was from pain as Kate wasn't displaying signs of having pain killers. "When did you last take your meds?" she asked.

"Last night" Kate replied. She should have left after an hour of watching Tex do nothing but progressively become worse. In a non humorous way, she too had become grossly exhausted and sore from sitting there watching him. when she had risen from the stool to stretch she had been hit hard with a wave of dizziness and nausea that she had to leave the room. The only reason she had come into hangar bay two was that she knew she didn't have the energy to go further.

"You should be laying down" Rachel said chastising her.

"I will when I've had a few minutes to rest and get my energy back up" Kate said with an exhausted sigh. Rachel moved around the boxes and pulled out her spare bottle of water and tossed it to Kate.

"Here, have some water" Rachel told her as Kate caught it.

"I'd rather scotch" Kate joked looking at the bottle in her hand.

"Me too but sadly water is all I have" Rachel told her.

"It will do" Kate said with a shrug and a smile as she uncapped the bottle and took a sip. Rachel sat down opposite her at the table.

"I'm sorry" Rachel told her sincerely.

"For having no scotch?" Kate asked before taking another sip, Rachel gave her a dower look at she was trying to be serious and Kate was being obtuse.

"No for failing you and the others" Rachel told her. Kate swallowed the water she had and looked serious for a moment.

"You tried your best, that's all I expected from you" Kate told her. Rachel looked at her in disbelief wondering if the woman understood the severity of the situation as Kate was calm and unaffected.

"How are you so emotionally mellow about this?" Rachel asked.

"You don't want to dive into my psyche on this one" Kate told her in a humourless tone as she looked down at the table and stopped when something; a printed photo caught her eye. She reached over and pulled the page and the file it had spilled out of towards her. She looked more closely at the page and felt her stomach turn in a sickly fashion.

"What?" Rachel asked Kate.

* * *

"We never should have let this happen." Tom said as he and Mike stood outside the door to Hangar bay one. They were allowing the crew to visit the remaining five in the trial to say their goodbyes without feeling constrained by having to show deference to their superior officers.

Tom was infuriated, he was infuriated that it was failing that he was going to have to endure six more funerals because he had so quickly put his trust in Rachel. The woman who had didn't have a steady track record for being successful. He was also infuriated at himself for not being in the trial, he should be the one in the room dying not those in the trial. He looked to Mike wishing the man was just as infuriated as he was but all he see was calm acceptance. He wondered what happened after Gibson's death that flicked a switch in Mike to make him able to keep a cool head when before that he was irrational and emotional as Tom felt now.

"Wasn't anything anybody could have done any differently." Mike told him in a low tone. Tom was about a second away from telling Mike where he could stuff that comment when Lt Granderson came down a stair well and walked towards them.

"I'm here to see Kara." Lt Granderson said as she must have sensed the tension and wanted to make it clear she hadn't overheard whatever they were arguing about. The two men moved out of the way allowing her to pass and Tom turned to face the wall for a just moment as he tried to remain calm. But once Granderson disappeared into the room he turned back to Mike.

"Six people, Mike." He said in an angered tone wishing Mike would become incensed and join him in his anger at their loss. "Six." He stressed.


	41. Chapter 41

_A/N: A big Thank you to everyone who takes the time to write reviews and also those who pop by for a read. Also huge thank you to IfUKnewUCouldNotFail_ _for your insights and help. It's greatly appreciated! To Everyone_:_ I hope you're all still enjoying and I just felt I should remind you all that I google my knowledge of Military, Medical, Science and Technology.. so I apologise for any annoying inaccuracy that will/have occurred... so please let them slide and enjoy :-)_

* * *

**Chapter 41**

* * *

"I know this person" Kate said as she looked down at the black and white printed profile picture of her oldest friend. But her name in the file wasn't disclosed, instead of a name she had a 5 digit serial number. Her heart began to pound in confusion as the all too familiar sense betrayal and anger unfurl inside her. _Evan, you son of bitch… I hope you're roasting right now…_ Kate thought bitterly as tears filled her eyes at how he had infected near every corner of her life and how completely oblivious she had acted only to now have to make account for it. She flipped through the papers but none of it made sense as it all was in medical short hand and gave up completely. She looked to Rachel and gestured to the file.

"What does this say?" Kate asked Rachel before she dropped her head down. She used her thumb and index finger to surreptitiously wipe the tears from her eyes. She didn't even know why it mattered considering the likelihood of Anna being alive to slim but it did. Rachel reached the across the table and took the file opening it to read.

"She was in a study for gene therapy treatment" Rachel said stating what Kate already knew.

"Treatment for an autoimmune disease?" Kate asked, she already knew the answer but asked the question anyway before she dropped her head into her hand wishing that Evan was alive so she could strangle him for exploiting her friend as she could only imagine Anna agreeing to such a thing out of sheer desperation to regain her health. Given Anna was a willing participant meant that Evan had probably wine and dined her into the stupidly dangerous venture and spun it in a way like he was doing her a favour. That if she was cured she would be able to regain her old life and career.

"Yes and it wasn't successful from results as they were trying to splice-" Rachel stopped as she skimmed the file, it was there in the file when she read the notes of the early stages in the trial when something in her mind click and suddenly connections between the failure of the vaccine trials, Bertrise and the monkey fell into place. She had been looking at it all wrong. The trial wasn't failing per say but her observations had been wrong, the symptoms the six had been showing weren't the virus but an autoimmune response which changed the whole paradigm of what needed to be done. Hope bloomed within her as it meant she had options. Rachel looked at Kate who unwittingly gave Rachel the answer she needed not only to the problem she hadn't foreseen but also how to adjust the vaccine treatment sitting opposite her.

"Oh my god" Rachel said as she remembered Quincy was prepping the morphine to end the trial as they had already determined an appropriate time to call an end to the remaining five's suffering but now she had to stop him.

"What?" Kate asked as Rachel checked her watch and cursed. Something that was completely unusual for the British woman.

"I just-" Rachel stood up from the table holding the file with a smile of relief "I have to go" Rachel told her before she ran around the table ignoring the clatter of the chair she had been sitting in that fell to the floor and the paper that slid off the table in her rush towards the door.

"Quincy!" Rachel shouted, she wrenched the connecting door and pulled it open stepping into hangar bay one. "Quincy! Stop!" She shouted as she pushed through the crowd that was standing around the tent until she was standing in front of the plastic wall. She saw Quincy at one of the stations drawing syringes filled with presumably a lethal dose of morphine. He had stopped and turned to look in her direction. She immediately gestured for him to come out of quarantine tent. He gave a nod and placed what he had been holding and moved to go through decontamination before meeting her outside.

She rushed over to the desk where they had been marking their progress or in this case marking their failure. She dumped the file she had been holding onto the table before she went for the box where they had stored all the paper copies of Lassiter Industries medical research on the virus and the medical files that had been flagged with it. Rachel had had it all printed out so she could read it but her own research had gotten in the way. She pulled out the box and dropped it onto the table and popped the lid just as Quincy came out of the decontamination showers closely followed by Tom.

"Microcellular inflammation, oxidative stress, immune vascular dysfunction and Bertrise always sick when she was a kid and yet immune to this. How could I have missed it?" Rachel said more to herself as she reached into the box and flicked through the files trying to find the folder pertaining the information that she needed. She was just grateful that she had wasted the paper to print the research out.

"Can't say that I'm following you." Mike said, Rachel stopped in her search and spoke her thoughts. She saw Kate had joined the circle around her and that they were all looking at her waiting for an more clearer explanation except for Kate. The redhead seemed to be her only ally but sadly she lacked any power to help Rachel.

"What we're seeing is an autoimmune response; the rashes, the liver failure, the poor circulation. What happened to Maya was her own body attacking itself." Rachel said, she could see by their mixture of confused expressions or in Mike's case blank expression that they didn't understand. She understood Kate's confusion as she was trying to make the connections between the medical file of her friend with the trials that were happening now but Rachel had expected better from Quincy.

"The virus is adapting." Quincy said stressing his own opinion, Rachel shook her head as she wished he would not get so bogged down in one mindset. Tom stepped out of the decontamination to join the group and Rachel felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavy as she knew he had lost faith in her and would probably not allow her a chance to save the remaining five in the trial. Given her track record right now he didn't blame him. It was easier to believe Quincy and Dr Rios over her as they found the easiest explanations but that didn't mean they were correct. So, right now she had to convince them all to give her a second chance.

"No, once it attached to the decoy, it changed shape. It exposed its human gene. Niels' gene." Rachel said, she watched as Quincy's eyes lit up as he understood her reasoning.

"And that signalled to their immune systems to launch an attack on every cell in their body." Quincy said, she nodded as she hoped he was finally getting what she was trying to say.

"The monkey doesn't have any human genes, so it didn't have the same reaction." Rachel said explaining herself to them as she could see the scepticism in Quincy expression while the others barely comprehended what she was saying. She didn't blame them for their ignorance as they didn't have the same knowledge as she and Quincy did.

"So how do you stop it?" Tom asked her. She felt a slight zing of relief that his tone was not scathing but interested. It meant that there was a small part of him willing to hear her out.

"We need to modify the decoy and hide Niels' gene. If our immune systems can't see it, it won't react." Rachel said and that was when she lost Quincy as he looked confused again. But then he hadn't read all the research she had or seen in the notes and studies Lassiter Industries had conducted in relation to Kate and apparently the woman who's file sat on the table. Both were in very different trials but parts of their files stuck out to Rachel which filled in the blanks of the questions she had to why her vaccine prototype wasn't working.

Their work gave her inspiration on how to fix their problem now and hopefully save those in the trial before they died. She'd seen the research and in her mind she knew she could easily backwards engineer their work and apply it to protocol. She just needed to convince Quincy and Tom to let her go ahead but given that Tom was looking to Quincy for an indication on whether he should agree or not was not a good sign. She turned back to the box she had been rifling through and contents.

"No, there is no way to get their bodies to manufacture the modified decoy on their own." Quincy told her and she quirked her lips into a slight smile as she found what she was looking for and pulled out the file.

"Yes, there is. We use the Arctic strain as a Trojan horse." Rachel told him, Quincy's eyes went wide as he looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"What you're talking about could take days if not months to research and develop into a viable prototype. Those people in there don't have that time" Quincy told her as he gestured to the remaining five souls in the tent. She picked up the medical file of Kate's friend and held it out to Quincy with the other file that had the research that explained her point of view.

"Not if someone has already done the leg work for us" Rachel said with a small smile and that's when it clicked for Tom as he remembered Kate going into the Hangar bay minutes before Rachel had her epiphany.

"Lassiter Industries subsidiary medical company Avocet. They tried something similar" Tom stated as he didn't know what Rachel was talking about in a medical sense but he did know she wouldn't have brought it up unless she knew for certain it would work. Tom looked at Kate who reared back at his cold stare but Rachel ignored it. As she was more interested in Quincy, if she could get him to see what she was thinking then maybe he would be more on board.

"Not exactly, but they've done extensive research into viral gene therapy. We just have to use it to suit our needs" Rachel said.

"I thought that research was too dangerous, it turned people into carriers" Tom argued as he remembered what Kate had told him about Lassiter Industries employees that had become asymptomatic carriers.

"One group of test subjects that we know of. Anyway what I'm suggesting is an entirely different application of their research. We're going to use the virus to camouflage Neils' gene not manipulate the genetic structure of the five patients" Rachel told Tom, the more time they stood there the more her brain worked out all the angles of the science and the more confident she was that this could and would work.

"This is shoddy pseudo-medical science at best" Quincy scoffed barely glancing at the file as he only read the topic. "Captain this will not work" he assured Tom in a serious and confident tone. Rachel dropped her head and tried to quell her anger as she was giving them a viable solution which was preferable to giving up.

"You've barely glanced at the files" Kate argued defending Rachel's position. "Anyway those people are going to be dead in a few hours. So what's the harm in letting the woman try?" Kate asked clearly annoyed that they were all standing around talking instead of doing something.

"Do you believe it will work?" Tom asked Rachel cutting off Quincy before he could list the numerous reasons why it would harm those in the trial for Rachel to try. Tom couldn't tell if Rachel was desperately grasping at straws or actually confident that her idea could work. She was too erratic and desperate for him to approve her next step and he was too unsure of if he wanted to give false hope to himself and the crew before they watch those in the tent die. She had failed him thus far and he couldn't decide if he should let their suffering continue or not.

Rachel took a steady inhale and exhale before she levelled her eyes with Tom. Long gone was the look of support she had seen in his eyes as was the confidence she used to feel he had in her but now was not the time for her to dissolve into a pitiful state. She needed him to believe she was confident and that this exercise was not based purely on her saving what was left of her ego.

"Yes" Rachel told him firmly.

"Then do it" Tom told her. It was hardly inspiring but Rachel wasn't going to wait for him to change his mind as she moved past him to go into the quarantine lab to get to work before Tom changed his mind.

"Captain, what she's suggesting could have serious ramifica-"

"Like them dying?" Kate asked in a dry tone. Tom closed his eyes for a moment as he struggled with her lack of tact. Quincy on the other hand just jumped on Kate's inflammatory statement.

"No, while that is the most probable outcome. The adjustments she's suggesting could have those people absorb Neils' gene or mutate their own genes creating another strain of the virus or it turn them into carriers of the current virus" Quincy told them.

"But you can't guarantee that either of those situations will happen" Kate argued with him.

"No but-" Quincy started but Tom could tell there was going to be a long and entirely useless argument to come and decided to nip it in the bud.

"Then I suggest Dr Tophett that you get in there and help Dr Scott. We'll worry about the side effects if they survive" Tom told Quincy, the man looked at Tom for a long moment as if deciding whether to argue but decided against it and turned on his feet heading back into quarantine.

* * *

Tom looked to Kate and folded his arms giving her a dark look. "I want a word with you outside. Now" Tom told her.

"I'm not in the mood" Kate told him in a fed up tone.

"It wasn't a request" Tom told her, Kate lips formed a thin line of displeasure as she could tell he was going to attack her again because Lassiter Industries had once again popped up and made itself known that it was a player in this mess of situation. She knew she could stay right where she was and he'd have to argue in front of his crew but he wouldn't do that. Which meant whatever he was thinking would only become more ludicrous and outlandish in his head as the sleep deprivation and paranoia he was obviously experiencing would overshadow his common sense.

"Of course it wasn't" Kate grumbled as she followed him to the door and waited as he opened the hatch. He gestured for her to step through into the hallway and after she did he followed and closed the door behind him.

"What is the connection between Lassiter Industries and this outbreak?" Tom asked her in a low voice. He couldn't help but feel annoyed by her bored and tired expression at the question.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Kate told him as she stared at him with a hard gaze so he wouldn't misread her body signals. Last thing she needed was him to think she was keeping secrets and try to bully her.

"I want to believe that I can trust you, that you don't have any hand in what's going on here. But Lassiter Industries keeps being showing up like a bad house guest. We get this weapons upgrade from your company which takes us away from our families, you have satellite systems that we use. Intelligence gathered by your company that we use. Here we are, the first human trials fail and the doctors hang their heads in defeat. Then one minute" he held up one finger to emphasise the number "One minute of talking to you and suddenly Dr Scott has a miracle cure that your company provided" he told her.

Tom took a breath and licked his lips taking a moment to calm himself even though his emotions were all over the place. He wanted to believe he could take everything she said at face value but he found it difficult given the situation and what happened only a few minutes ago.

"You tell me you don't know anything and it's not your company but you were married to one of the owners of Lassiter Industries. When that man up and dies, you go to work for his company based on an I.O.U. note written while drunk. It's ludicrous but I take your word on that. You claim to me over and over you know nothing but somehow you inspire Dr Scott into finding a solution with information obtained from the wealth of information your brother in law just 'dropped' into your lap." he said, Kate fought the urge to kick Tom in the groin as she had officially reached her limit of his yo-yo routine of trusting her and then accusing her of knowing more than she did and then apologising the next.

"I'm just unfortunate like that" Kate said scathingly.

"Or you're pulling our strings" He said accusing her, because that's what it felt like. It felt like he had zero control over the trials and he was having trouble with how he has to put his trust into Kate and Rachel. Two women that had a history of withholding information from him and if were truly honest to himself; he didn't know either of them from Eve.

It still burned that Rachel had lied to him about their real purpose for being in the Arctic, for with putting on false bravado that her vaccine would work and yet she was incredibly unapologetic for her actions. She might have said she was sorry but he knew in the grander scheme she wasn't because she was doing her job. It was why he kept finding it difficult to believe Kate was so ignorant of a company she worked for. He just kept waiting for her to turn around and prove his worst fears that she did know exactly what was going on and that she was messing with them in some way.

"Do I look like a puppet master to you? Do I even look like I'm enjoying this shit fight?" She asked incredulously.

"I've lost a crew member to information you had but didn't utilise" He accused her, he just needed to clear the air and see her reaction. It was the only reason he found he pushing this argument. That and because as much as he hated to admit it, he was jealous that Kate was able to inspire Rachel to find a solution, a solution that may not work but still; Kate had managed motivate Rachel where he couldn't. What he didn't know was the why it bothered him that he wasn't the one.

"Information that I gave you full access ever since we received it. I can't be held accountable for information everyone had access to" Kate told him bitterly. He could see the resentment. Any chance of a friendship he and Kate could have had was slowly being burned away.

"Only you have full access to the information" Tom said, Kate gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh for fuck's sake. I gave you all of the codes and passwords required to access the information. What do you want me do? Beg for forgiveness and look contrite because the answers for all your problems just don't magically appear when you want them to?" Kate asked him exasperated by his trivial complaints.

"No, what I want is for you to go to CIC and prioritize the information that is pertinent to our mission. I want you to fucking own the legacy that your husband and brother in law dropped in your lap. So when I ask you something in future; you have the answers and that I never have to hear the words 'I don't know' come from your mouth." Tom told her angrily.

"That would take months if not years to sort out and tell me how exactly are you going to force me into service for you? I'm not an American who can be conscripted into service-" Kate began to argue but he cut her off. He took a step forward and spoke in a low and controlled voice.

"The longer you hold out information the longer it delays our mission. The longer my crew and I have to wait to see our families. It would be unfortunate if your petulance in this simple request of mine lost him time with his daughters. Imagine who he would blame if he lost his daughters because of a delay you caused" Tom told her. His words effectively and painfully sliced through her as she couldn't believe he would stoop so low to emotionally manipulate her like that. The words also stung because she could see Mike blaming her for inadvertently holding information that could have helped.

Tom looked at her with a cocked eyebrow as if waiting for her to argue with him and it was then she realised that he was just using her to vent his pent up anger. She wondered what it was about her that made him see her as an easy target. She shook her head, telling herself to not react and blow up in his face as she felt that was what he wanted. He wanted her to yell at him so he could yell back but instead she remained quiet. For the longest minute and half, she pressed her lips together in a thin line and waited as her anger calmed just enough so she could look at him without feeling the urge to kick him in shin. When she was somewhat calmer she looked him head on.

"You know what? you need to pull your fucking head in, mate. I get that this is rough for you watching people who entrust their lives to you slowly die for your cause but I would've expected better from you" Kate told him in a low and serious tone. Any respect she had left for him flew out the window.

"This isn't about me" He told her in a chilling tone as he didn't appreciated her dressing him down like he were her subordinate. As far as he was concerned his head was clear.

"No, it's about you and Rachel-" Kate started but Tom cut her off.

"There is nothing going on between Rachel and I" Tom bit out as he knew how people could misconstrue a working relationship to be more than it was just because he spent a lot of hours watching Rachel work. How he used this ship to further Rachel's research in the hopes that she would find a vaccine.

Kate reared back as she realised she had hit an entirely different mark. She was about to talk about his and Rachel's ego in being the heroes and trying to cure the world of the virus. She was going to tell him that he needed to wake up to himself just like Rachel had and see the bigger the picture. The picture where they were not gods and couldn't control everything. But instead of correcting him, she decided to run with his defensive answer.

"No?" Kate asked in a mockingly innocent manner.

"There are no parallels to be drawn between your history with Mike to Rachel and I. I'm a happily married man and what I have with Rachel is a working relationship. Nothing more so I'd appreciate you not insinuating there is something more to it" Tom told her in an adamant tone, Kate's eyebrows rose in surprise as she couldn't believe he felt it necessary to tell her that he was a happily married man. But then even Tom looked a little off from his statement like he hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn.

Though she had noticed a tension between Rachel and Tom before but knew better than to read too much into. Though she had teased Rachel about it being sexual at one point Kate had always assumed it was a hostile tension due to Rachel's mission interfering with how Tom wanted to run his ship and then the subsequent months of trying to help Rachel with her quest only to be met with failure and undetermined delays; delays which had kept him and his crew from being able to return to their home.

"Good for you and F.Y.I.; I wasn't insinuating anything. I also don't appreciate you trying to emotionally manipulate me especially when all you had to do was ask me in a polite and nice manner to help you with the Lassiter Industries bullshit" Kate told him, she turned on her feet and walked away from leaving him to his thoughts.

Tom was feeling perplexed as he watched Kate walk away. He couldn't even begin to remember his motivation for why he had followed her and had picked a fight with Kate.

Perhaps he wanted her to confess that she had a hand in helping Rachel. That even with all the evidence pointing to Kate being an innocent bystander; she was not entirely absolved of Lassiter Industries involvement. The name kept popping up; naturally it raised questions and Kate was the only person on the ship directly linked to the source.

But a small annoying part of him reminded him of his slip up and what he didn't understand was why he had even defended himself for saying there was nothing going on between Rachel and himself. _Nothing between you and Rach- Dr Scott's except professional courtesy which was definitely lacking on her side…_ Tom thought to himself.

Though there was that kiss on the Vyerni. He tried brushed it off as it was just to pass a message from Mike to him. It didn't meant anything but then if it didn't mean anything then why did he occasionally find himself thinking about it. Thinking of why she had chosen him over Tex, why it had felt incredibly good to kiss her. He quickly shook the thought away as he wasn't like Mike. His marriage was happy and stable-

Tom was snapped out of his thoughts when the door to the hangar bay opened and Mike stuck his head out.

"Mike" Tom said in greeting, feeling inwardly guilty for comparing himself to his best friend and believing himself the better man just because he was lucky to have found a woman more agreeable to their way of life.

"Dr Scott is ready to do her thing and wants to know if you'll be assisting her" Mike said to him. Tom took a moment to take a fortifying breath and nodded.

"Let's do this" Tom said as he followed Mike back into the hangar bay.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

* * *

A few hours later,

Tom and Mike stood in front of the plastic tent looking in. "They don't seem to be getting worse" Tom commented breaking the silence they had been enduring since Dr Scott's latest 'adjustment' had been implemented. Tom had helped injecting IV lines with a blue liquid and also sat at Jeter's bedside.

But after a couple hours he had become antsy and needed to pace. It hadn't helped that he couldn't get the argument he had with Kate out of his head. So he left the tent needing some respite and he also had the added bonus of looking into the room and seeing what was happening as a whole.

He just wished he could stop looking at Rachel. He told himself that he was gauging her reaction; if she looked like crestfallen then the adjustment was a failure but if she smiled then it was a success.

But even then he knew he didn't need to look at her to tell if the trial was a success or not. He just had to watch the surviving 5 people to see if they became worse or not. He wanted to blame Kate for planting the seed in his head that there was something more to it but it was all him. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked their time alone when she vainly tried to explain what she was doing in terms she understood.

It made him feel more involved in the process and somehow since Gibson's death he had lost that comradery with her; which was mostly due to his anger and disappointment in himself than her. He knew she was doing her best but he couldn't help but wonder if he was pushing Rachel too much for results. It was the only excuse he could come up with for why the trials were failing.

"But they aren't getting any better" Mike remarked which was also true, the five in the room had just been lying on their cots sleeping. Rachel had said their vitals were weak but stable but that meant nothing to them as they wanted something more tangible to hook onto before they hoped for the best. The phone on the side of the wall by the door rang and Tom watched from the corner of his eye as Mike walked over and picked it up.

"Hangar Bay One" Mike answered, Tom was about to turn his full attention back to the tent when Mike said; "What -" Mike stopped "What are you doing?" he asked into the phone in a patronising tone. Tom watched as Mike listened to the other end of the phone and frowned.

"Permission denied" he said in a dry tone to whoever was on the other side of the phone.

"What is it?" Tom asked, Mike covered the speaker end of the phone before he spoke.

"Kate's got a screw loose in the CIC" Mike commented.

"Please tell me you mean metaphorically speaking" Tom said in an exhausted tone as he hoped Kate hadn't disassembled his CIC as some kind of revenge for their argument where he had emotionally blackmailed her.

"She wants to turn on our satellite system and link into some kind of network server farm" Mike informed him, what Kate was suggesting would paint a lovely bull's eye on their ship for anyone who was tracking them.

Given their run in with the Russians Tom and Mike agreed it was wiser to limit their usage of certain systems until they were closer to home. For some reason being closer to their own shores made Tom feel a little better about sending up a flare with their position than it did right now.

"I'm going to go up" Tom said deciding that it was probably best to just sort out the problem in person than deal through Mike as a mediator.

"Alright" Mike said, before he relayed to Major Barker that Tom was on his way up.

* * *

Kate sat back in her chair looking at the plexiglass board she had 'borrowed' from CIC to write up all her notes in black light pen. The fluorescent notes she wrote glowed under the blue hue of the black lighting in the room.

The notes were a jumble mess of words and numbers to those who didn't understand their for her it helped though it didn't help her stomach that churned with resentment as she had let Tom so easily manipulate her. But he was right in some regards that she could help; she could get information faster because she knew her codes and passwords by rote.

Sadly, it didn't make her feel any sense of importance; in fact it made her feel incredibly depressed and angry to the point she felt like punching something hard followed by curling up in a ball and crying. She knew the latter was the only thing she was capable of given her injuries and the pain killers. She was beginning to wonder if exhaustion and said pain killers were making her maudlin mood worse.

"Lassiter" Tom said from behind her. Kate looked over her shoulder and watched as Tom came into the room and stopped to stand beside her chair. He looked like hell but given that he probably hadn't slept since the trials started. It probably helped him reach that level of desperation where he'd sink low to claim her refusal for help would only delay Mike from reuniting with his daughters.

"Chandler" Kate said mockingly imitating his tone as Tom looked at the board. What she wouldn't give to be fully healed and able to smack him in the face. It was definitely petulant but it lifted her spirits slightly to know she had an opportunity to kick him in shin or stomp his foot.

"What have you found?" he asked her, she gave a closed lip smile as he was acting as if they had some pleasant rapport when all she could think about was physically harming him and his handsome face.

"The board is just a breakdown of what I've learned so far which isn't why I wanted access to the satellite system so ignore it for now. It's unimportant" Kate told him as she looked at her board of notes which was a basic breakdown of the company and its subsidiaries with what they did.

Obviously the board wasn't big enough to be in depth on the subject so Kate narrowed it all down to the east coast of America and what would be useful to the ship in the coming weeks if not months.

It had taken a smaller dose of pain meds, a lot of reading and a lot of strong green tea to get as far as she had. She learnt where refuelling stations were, warehouses and possible alternative labs. She also learnt a lot about the Nathan James and it's upgrades to find a few interesting details she was sure Tom would probably have a coronary over. She decided it was best not to mention them as they weren't as important as what she had just discovered. Buried in the mountains of information she found references to servers that formed a communications network. It was how Lassiter Industries kept an eye on all its businesses and property. It was what made the map that identified the active sites and those that had been destroyed or lost in the chaos of the pandemic. Kate wanted to log into that network and see what bounced back to them as the data would be in real time.

The only problem was convincing Major Barker which in turn meant convincing Tom and Mike who were too wrapped up in the trials to want to focus on anything else. Or so she had thought but given that Tom was here proved her wrong or he was so heavily sleep deprived and paranoid he was sure she was going to take over the ship if he didn't nip it in the bud right now.

"Ok, then why am I here?" Tom asked, his tone was careful as he didn't want them to fight in front of the crew and because he was so tired he just didn't want to fight with her.

"I didn't ask you to be here. I asked for permission-"

"What do you want?" Tom asked her effectively cutting her rant off as he needed the crew to know who was in charge.

"I need to use the satellites to connect to the active servers to see if I can get a more up to date picture of the outside world but Major Barker has been rather uncooperative" Kate said not bothering to insult her dead husband and his legacy further as much as she wanted to. It seemed rather sardonic that the death of two people she had once cared about now only made her feel bitterly angry.

"We've got the comms monitoring all radio frequencies" Major Barker started to explain but Kate cut him off.

"Yes and that's real cute that we log people dying day in and day out but it doesn't tell us where our next meal is coming from nor does it give us information on how to find alternative labs for Dr Scott to produce a viable vaccine if your first plan of heading to Fort Detrick doesn't exactly work out" Kate told Barker in a snide tone as she knew it cruel to be so blunt but she was tired and cranky from the whole situation and too much caffeine.

"So how does it feel to own Lassiter Industries?" Tom asked her, retaliating for the jab she had taken at him and his command decisions.

"It's everything I've ever dreamed about and so much more" she drawled in a sarcastic tone. Tom didn't look impressed with her sarcasm but then that was his problem as far as Kate was concerned. "So are we going to sit around doing nothing or can I have access?" Kate asked Tom as she really just wanted to get access to the servers and sign into the network and see if she could find information on Anna as well as Mike's family. That's all she decided to care about. It was just lucky that finding Mike's family coincided with Tom's mission.

Granted Mike's family would be harder track down but she knew there would information about the US in a broader sense. Anna on the other hand had been tagged just like Kate. If Anna was found she would be logged into the system. It was still difficult for her to stomach that her friend had been in a medical trial. She was still waiting to talk to Rachel about it but for now she had to settle with what she could get. Then she would get some sleep before going down to Hangar bay to see how the trials were progressing.

"Why now?" Tom asked her, Kate fought the urge to roll her eyes as she knew he still believed deep down that she knew exactly what was going on and her past ignorance was just an act.

"I only found out about it two minutes ago, that's why I brought it up now not everything is a conspiracy" Kate told him in a no nonsense manner.

"Will you be able to access it?" Tom asked her ignoring her comment about it not being a conspiracy.

"Yes" Kate lied as she had no idea but it was worth her having a try.

"Sir, I've already explained to her that turning-" Barker started but Kate cut him off.

"I know it lights us up like a huge green target for anyone's pleasures. But you guys defeated the Russians and we're in or near American waters. It should be relatively safe. You wanted me to break down the intelligence and comply it into something useful for you. Now, I've found us a possible source of information that might have information that isn't three weeks old. So it's your decision on how far you want to take this" Kate argued. Tom took a deep inhale wishing he had some argument to say 'no' but in this instance he couldn't see the harm or maybe he was so sleep deprived he just wanted someone to be easy to please.

"No more than a few minutes" Tom told her, acquiescing to her request even though she hadn't asked nicely before he turned to Major Barker "Bring up radar and sonar as well. If we have a whiff of someone tracking us… Shut it all down and alert the bridge. I also want all stations on standby" Tom ordered.

"Aye sir" Major Barker replied, not happy but following his orders none the less as he started to direct those in the room to their new task. The CIC room whirred to life as consoles were brought back online and chatter of the crew as they proceeded through the motions of their task.

"Ma'am" Ensign Ishiyoka prompted to Kate who had seemed to go off into her own world for a moment. The woman's focus came back into the room and she stood up from her chair and looked Tom.

"Excuse me" Kate said as she brushed by Tom. He watched as she pulled her arm sling off and winced as she tried to roll her shoulder only to be met with pain. She sat down in the chair that Ishiyoka offered and began typing at a rather slow pace but given the strain on her face and how quickly she had turned pale Tom could tell it was she was in excruciating pain. It only made him feel like an asshole for pushing her into a state but he knew there was no point in apologising as she wouldn't accept or forgive him. So he turned his attention to the screen not wanting to see her pain and focussed on what she was looking for.

"What is all of that?" Tom asked as the screen before him looked much like any website with a database system attached to it. The only thing that set it apart was all the logos attached to it and the fact that as far as he knew the internet was dead. He watched as Kate sifted through the site with ease. Pictures of maps popped up a long with word documents. He couldn't help but note how very user friendly the server was and some information was backdated to about a week ago.

"Someone has been updating the system with new information" Kate commented as she used search engines to find most of what she needed and downloaded a map of the US and all information on the active and inactive offices and affiliate companies on the East Coast as well as satellite positions in the sky. She had just brought up Anna's profile number to see her file had been accessed by an Avocet medical centre in Baltimore a month ago when the screen went blank. "What happened?" Kate asked as the screen before her remained blank like she had turned it off.

"We lost the link, the satellite must have moved out of range." Major Barker told her.

"Fantastic" Kate said, she quickly transferred the data she had downloaded to her iphone that was attached to the station. She pulled her sling back on and propped her arm taking a moment as the pain of her less than 3 minutes of typing and movement to wash through her. She closed her eyes and took slow fortifying breaths as she was sure she was going to vomit.

"You get what you wanted?" Tom asked. Kate opened her eyes and looked up at him. Her nausea and pain had dulled but she was still feeling ill.

"Not everything" Kate said to him as she wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for in the first place but the fact that her friend's file had been accessed from the Avocet offices in Baltimore a month ago gave her a sense of hope. It meant she had survived the initial outbreak of the virus and the following months. It was something, it meant that Kate might have one friend out in the world still alive.

"Who was the woman in the file?" he asked her with a curious tone. Kate narrowed her eyes at him as she tried to detect whether he was just curious or if he was interrogating her. The fact that he asked in a low voice as the room was a chatter with CIC returning their stations back to idle suggested that he wasn't trying to put on a show for them.

"Which file?" she asked him to be annoyingly obtuse.

"The one you looked up, it's the same photo of the file Dr Scott gave Dr Tophett in the Hangar Bay. I recognised the face. Why is she important?" Tom asked her in a low voice.

"She's an old friend of mine, I thought she might still be alive" Kate told him.

"Is she?" Tom asked.

"No idea but I doubt it given the current world climate" she told him honestly. She didn't really want to talk about it as she didn't understand why Anna's file had been requested by the Avocet office in Baltimore. But then she entirely understand the system she had been in less than a minute ago. The only luck she had was that it had a search engine otherwise she would have found nothing of use.

"What else did you download?" he asked. Kate could have preferred to not share until she had a look at it by herself but then remember how secrecy had a way of turning the crew mutinous.

"I forget you have your open door policy but I think you look at this in private" She advised him.

"No, show me now and here. I have nothing to hide" he told her.

"Alright, but I warned you" Kate said as she got up from the chair Ishiyoka had given her to pick up her iphone. She scrolled through the new data and then opened an app on her phone and transmitted the first image to the screen. She knew it would upset people but right now she didn't care as she was following instructions.

"What is this?" Tom asked her as he looked at the Map of the United States but it unlike any he'd seen before the state lines were gone and in their place chopped and chipped into random geometric shapes of varying shades of red to white. Like someone had broken the country into hundreds of smaller states. The white parts however were heavily outnumbered by the red.

"I believe it is a map of your country updated about 3 days ago. The map legend says the Red is the most densely populated of recorded infected patients and you can glean the rest from the key at the bottom of the map" Kate said before she laid the next image over the top. Only a few green spots lit up and most of them were in the smaller white districts on the map whilst black dots spotted all over the map down and around the coast lines and major cities. Compared to the first map Evan had sent her; she could tell more offices and laboratories had gone dark. The annoying part was that she didn't know what happened to them. Only that they were no longer checking in with the server farms.

"Green dots are most likely to be warehouses and server farms and the ones off sure would be oil refineries except for that one" Kate said pointing to the most northern green dot on the map that was out in the ocean. "It's a wind/hydro-turbine power farm. It was still in the experimental phase of cleaner energy resources" Kate told Tom before he could ask. She remembered Jack being excited at the prospect of cleaner energy sources and him telling her about the engineering behind it. She had been impressed with his enthusiasm and knowledge at the time.

"What about Laboratories or medical facilities?" Tom asked. Kate gestured to Baltimore which was a hot zone for the virus in dark red but because the Avocet office was indicated with a black dot. It gave her an unsettling feeling as to what had happened to her friend and pretty much snuffed out any hope she had of finding Anna alive.

"I would assume they are the black dots. All of the ones on the east coast look to have been destroyed probably during the rioting or they were doing research on the virus and lost containment. Who knows. I just know that black means it's a complete write off. Looks like we have no back up plan if your Army didn't hold up their fort" Kate told him dejectedly as she hoped she would have someone she cared about survive this virus. Someone who wasn't safely on this ship at least but sadly she was out luck.

"Anything else I should know?" Tom asked her. She couldn't help but notice that his expression had turned grim and wondered what he was thinking as he looked at the map. He was obviously seeing something she didn't.

"I tried download the satellite paths but the file is corrupted. It must have been cut off mid download when we severed our like" Kate told him as she closed down all the files from the big screen display in CIC. The original programming of CIC kicked in and the screen went back to displaying a topographical map of where the ship currently was.

"That's fine, when we get closer we'll be able to turn on our systems and track the closest satellite and use it" Tom said. Kate made a derisive noise as she disconnected her iphone from the console and pocketed it.

"Ok, well that's all I have for now" Kate told him as she made moves to leave. She knew she had weeks of information to sift through but she was too tired to continue. She needed to eat a proper meal and get some sleep. Frankly she also needed to be alone and away from the crew, from Tom and just forget for a couple of hours.

"Where you going?" Tom asked her. Kate turned around and gave him an unreadable look.

"To get some sleep. Something you should probably think about doing yourself" Kate told him.

"Don't you want to see the outcome of the trial?" Tom asked her. Kate stepped close to him and shook her head.

"No, I don't and I think you should tell your XO that Deer Park is still a safe zone according to that map. He should have some good news" she told him a low voice. Tom frowned at her suggestion as he figured she'd want to be the one to share such news.

"I will and for what it's worth. Thank you" he told her.

"I've barely scratched the surface of what you want me to do" Kate said to him, she moved away from him and gave Barker a churlish smile. "I'll be back in a few hours Major. You want me to bring you a coffee? or a snack?" she asked in a mockingly sweet manner.

"No, thank you Ma'am" Barker replied in a smarmy manner as he knew she was being a smart ass. She gave him a mock salute before she left the CIC. Once the door closed behind her, Barker moved to Tom's side. "Sir, may I have word with you?" he asked in a low voice.

"Go ahead" Tom said though he really didn't want hear what Barker was going to say.

"I think we should relocate Lassiter to another location on the ship for her to continue her work. It's disturbing the crew in CIC" Barker said, he gestured to the board where Kate had written up what appeared to be a random bunch of names, descriptive words, dates, serial numbers. Maybe to her it made sense but to Tom it was indecipherable mess. He could see why it might have disturbed some people given they would worried as to what it all meant.

"And where would you suggest given she needs a computer and access to our mainframe?" Tom asked him.

"We could-" Barker stopped as he realised that they didn't have any computers to spare as they had given them Dr Scott and her research. It seemed the only place Kate could do what Tom had tried to force her to do was the CIC. But there was Tom's office but then for Barker to suggest that as an option would be impertinent. Tom's office was his space and if he put her in there it would seem like he was trying to hide what Kate was doing. That and well Tom wasn't feeling in the sharing mood even he needed his own space on the ship.

"Exactly. There's no where else" Tom said completing Barker's sentence for him. "Just keep me updated on her progress" he added.

"Yes, Sir" Barker said, acknowledging Tom's order.

* * *

Some time later in the Hangar Bay One,

Mike was pretty sure at some point he had fallen asleep whilst standing up because in some point not that he remembered when the five in the quarantine tent went from being deathly still to actually looking healthy. Well, not entirely healthy as they were still incredibly pale and had lesions and rashes on their bodies but they had more colour to their skin than before and were starting breath more deeply. He felt relief wash over him as he knew whatever Dr Scott had done had worked or seemed to be working. But he still wasn't going to jump for joy and call it a victory until the doctors confirmed that the vaccine worked.

But to see the improvements was uplifting and to pass on that information to the crew felt good considering as he felt like he was becoming the messenger of bad news. But what he wanted right now was for Dr Scott to come out and tell them she had a vaccine. He needed this victory as it would mean that they would be going home and he could finally start thinking about making proper plans to track down his kids. Christina was just a complication he would have to deal with when the time came. Just the thought of having to deal with her gave him a headache.

He lifted a hand and rubbed his eyes as he already had a headache but it had nothing to do with Christina. This headache was from too much coffee and little sleep. The last few weeks were definitely catching up with him. He really wanted to hit the gym and then sleep for 6 uninterrupted hours but the chances of that was unlikely. So it was down to whether he'd go back to his stateroom for a couple hours of sleep or just have another coffee with Tylenol. He was about to push of the wall he had been leaning against to get a fresh cup of coffee when the door opened and Kate stepped through.

He leaned back against the wall and watched her as she struggled to close the door. He knew he should help her but he didn't want to take Kate's sense of being capable away from her. Anyway if she wanted him to close the door she would have ordered him in a less than charming manner to close it for her. So he just admired the view as Kate had changed her clothes, her pants were the same but her shirt was different given its crumpled state he'd say she'd slept in it. He looked at his watch noting that it had been a few hours since he'd seen her. So it wasn't outside of the realm to think she had gotten some sleep. Her hair was loose and slightly tangled looking, She definitely been sleeping Mike thought to himself as his eyes landed on her feet to see she was lacking shoes. There was one rule Kate lived by and that was she never slept with her shoes on. He was sure she did in her old army days but obviously she wasn't going to carry it on.

She finally closed the door and pulled the handle on the door up securing it. She blew out a breath like she had just moved something considerably heavier than the door before she turned around to face the room. It only took her a moment before she spotted him and moved toward him.

"Hey" Kate said to him in a low voice as she sidled up to him. She gave him a comforting closed lip smile as placed her hand on his upper arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "How are you?" she asked him in a low voice.

"Tired" He told her as Kate leaned her good arm against the wall looked at him.

"Have you even left this room?" Kate asked him.

"Yes" he replied not looking at her. The Hangar bay had been emptied of all non essential crew. The only people outside the Quarantine tent was Kate, himself, Bertrise and Mason. The ensign had taken over for looking after Bertrise. It was rather endearing given that it was no secret that Mason seemed to have developed a crush on the girl. Mike didn't really care as long as the kid didn't let his emotions for Bertrise affect his duties and thus far it hadn't been an issue.

"Where's the Captain?" Kate asked looking around.

"Inside the tent and please tell you don't have any more questions" Mike told her as he didn't have a lot of patience for 20 questions given his lack of sleep. Kate pursed her lips in amusement at his grouchiness.

"I have many questions but I'll keep them to myself for a couple of minutes. I did however bring this" Kate pulled a bottle of Tylenol out from inside her sling along with a bottle of water.

"You know that sling is supposed to support your arm" He informed her as he took out two tablets from Tylenol bottle.

"Just be grateful, I brought you drugs and water" Kate told him as she traded the water bottle for the Tylenol. She tucked the container back into her sling.

"I'd prefer coffee"

"Too hot to carry and your kidneys will thank me" Kate informed him.

"You have any food hiding in there?" He asked out of curiosity. Kate smiled at his question and he wondered what had her in such a good mood.

"No, but I heard this ship has two fully functioning galleys. Perhaps you should check one out, I hear they serve some food that's reasonably edible" Kate suggested in a tongue and cheek manner.

"Thank you for the suggestion and the drugs" He said dryly as he uncapped the bottle and then downing the tablets with water.

"No problem, so how's in going in there?" Kate asked looking towards the tent.

"They appear to be getting better. What have you been upto?" Mike asked.

"Working, sleeping" Kate told him.

"You?" he asked in disbelief as he didn't know what she could do on the ship that was considered 'work'.

"Yeah, shocking right? Think I can pull you away from all this excitement for half an hour?" Kate asked him.

"Kate-" he started to tell her that he wasn't going to pulled away because she wanted a little bit of action. No matter how much he'd love to indulge her. But Kate cut him off.

"It's legitimate not me trying to be coy, we need to talk in private and then you maybe you could think about having a shower, shaving and getting something to eat" Kate told him. Mike self consciously rubbed his chin and felt the stubble. She was right he did need a shave and food would be good. He felt him swayed and immediately caved because he couldn't find a good enough reason to say 'no'.

"Alright" Mike said pushing off the wall to follow her.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

* * *

15 minutes later,

Mike came into the outer area of his stateroom, freshly shaven and wearing a clean tshirt and his sweat pants on. He would have gotten into fresh BDUs but decided to actually take a proper break from his uniform and relax for a just a little while before he had to go back on duty. He looked to the lounge where Kate sat with one leg folded under her as she flicked through something on her iphone. He had thought she had left that in CIC but he had a feeling he had missed out something pretty important given that he wasn't the only one who heard her and the Captain arguing in the hallway. The only problem was that they hadn't been shouting so their conversation was muffled by the steel walls.

He would have been interested to hear what Tom had said to Kate to make her go through the data packet as Kate had been adamant about disowning Lassiter Industries and not going near it. Yet here she was reading up on it all .He watched her for a moment taking in her relaxed posture as she looked completely enthralled by whatever was on the screen. Her right arm was out of its sling resting against her body, her hair draping forward as she was slightly hunched over the phone. But he had a feeling her hunching over had more to do with her arm than her having difficulties reading the screen in her hand.

"Ok, I'm clean and I shaved. What did you want to talk about?" he asked her breaking the silence as he sat down on the lounge next to her. Kate looked up and tossed the iphone on the table. He looked at his usually tidy coffee table noticing for the first time since coming back that it was covered in a mess of paper, pens with her half closed laptop and a half empty water bottle on top.

"I assume Captain Chandler told you about the map?" Kate asked him, she leaned forward across the coffee table and pulled her laptop closer to her. She opened it and the computer screen lit up as it came out of 'sleep' mode.

"No, he's been a little busy" Mike remarked as he watched her type in her password and the computer continue through the process of signing in.

"Oh ok" Kate said frowning as she thought Tom would have at least told Mike about his family and Deer Park. Granted it wasn't confirmation they were alive but it was good news that where they were was still a safe zone.

"What did I miss?" he asked, Kate turned the screen of her laptop around and pressed it down turning her laptop into a tablet computer. She brought up the map of the US and showed it to him.

"The resolution is shit" Kate told him. He looked to the screen at the image before him and the realisation hit him that Christina and his kids were smack bang in the middle of a red zone. His insides turned cold as one thought came to mind that he was too late to save his daughters.

"How reliable is this information?" he asked her as he took the computer from her to look at the map. He tried to zoom but it wouldn't enlarge.

"Pretty reliable and I have a list of safe zones. Deer Park is on it" Kate told him.

"How do I zoom?" Mike asked her as he took the computer from her to look at the map and tried to figure out how to zoom in.

"Yeah, one second" Kate said as she leaned close to him and reached over his hands and zoomed in on the map. Mike"What am I zooming in on?" she asked him. It took him a moment to focus on the task at hand and remember why they were talking and not anything salacious like how good Kate smelled or how much he really wanted to...

"Baltimore area on the east coast" he answered her gruffly as he barely remembered what she had asked him. He watched the corner of Kate's mouth kicked up in a slight smile as she messed with the screen and enlarged the image.

"This is as good as it gets" Kate said with a sigh as she sat back, Mike tore his eyes from her and looked down at the screen. There were no names or anything to indicate she had the place except for a black spot where it looked to be Baltimore.

"What's the black mark?"

"Downed laboratory according to the records. It's in Baltimore. Makes for a good reference point given this map is lousy on labelling" Kate told him, He nodded and looked as the map, it was all different degrees of read except for one small white oblong zone roughly where he'd guess Deer Park to be,

"It has to be that white square" Mike surmised as he had see the map legend to know what the colours meant.

"So it's a fair hike outside of Baltimore?" Kate asked him. She said sitting forward again and looking down at the map.

"About 12 hours or so west by car from Baltimore. It would take a few days to hike it" Mike informed her.

"So where's Fort Detrick?" Kate asked him.

"Somewhere around here" Mike said pointing to a general location in the red zone near Baltimore.

"That explains why the Captain looked so grim. So I assume the Nathan James will dock at Baltimore-" Kate started but Mike cut her off.

"It hasn't been decided yet. Nothing will be decided until the trials are finished" Mike said as he wondered what she was getting at as she spoke in a slow methodical manner like she was expecting an argument. She gave him a small smile as she brushed her hair behind her ear and continued as if she had not been interrupted.

"Ok assuming we are making port somewhere near Baltimore and also assuming we have a vaccine by then. I think we should divide and conquer" Kate told him.

"Divide and conquer?" He asked, Kate sat back on the lounge and gave a casual shrug. But she felt anything but calm and casual as she knew she was about to suggest something he wasn't going to like. Hell, she didn't like it but given their situation, there wasn't much else they could realistically do.

"You still have your duty to the ship and its crew. It won't end once we have a viable vaccine. You have to find a lab to mass produce it and how are you going to distribute it?" Kate asked him, the questions that had run through his own mind the last few hours since the vaccine looked like it was going to work. "It could be months before the Captain decides you're all free to go but I'm not held by that same duty." Kate told him. She looked at him waiting for his response as she knew he knew where she was going with this and she also knew she wouldn't be getting a pat on the ass and good luck kiss.

Kate also knew he had to realise that the reality of their situation. He wasn't going to get out of his duties just because they have a vaccine and the longer they both stayed on the ship; the more Kate would become a distraction to him as would the long separation from knowing that his daughters were well and alive. Even so, Kate still had to find the kids and his wife. His wife was going to be the interesting part of that equation as it made Kate wonder if the two would reconcile and it made her feel like a royal bitch for hoping the two didn't. She tried not to think too hard on what she was to Mike because the lines were incredibly blurry and she wasn't game to ask him.

"So, you want to find my kids and Christina" he said looking at the computer screen, he was equal parts unimpressed and touched by her idea. Unimpressed because he wondered why she couldn't stay on the ship and why they couldn't go together. But touched because she would willing go into an unknown situation and risk herself so he could know what happened to his kids and to make sure they were safe.

"Helo is out of gas, so I can't do much here but off the ship; I can track them down and send you word that they are safe. I can give them the vaccine and give them a better chance of survival than either you or I can do right now." Kate told him in a pragmatic fashion.

"You didn't know where Deer Park was until I pointed it out" Mike told her, she gave him a patient look as she obviously knew he was trying to find excuses where there weren't any. She was right, he wasn't going to be let off duty once they made port but he also didn't want her to go alone as he was afraid he would lose her to whatever danger lurked on the ground. At least on the ship he could keep an eye on her, know that she was safe.

"I'll find a better map and-" Kate started but Mike cut her off.

"It's a long hike in dangerous territory and for all we know my family could have moved on" Mike said as he just wanted to tell her not to go but couldn't because he could only think selfishly of how she could potentially save his daughters with the vaccine. Kate gave him a patient look as she must have been prepared for him to shoot her idea down.

"I've taken men bigger than you down and I'm resourceful, I'll find transport, it's not going to be easy but I can do this. I can find them" She assured him even though she didn't have the first clue on how to but she'd find a way.

"How?" he asked her, _Shit..._ Kate thought as she hadn't really gotten down to thinking about how she would be able to do it.

"How do I take men down? It's easy, I go-" Kate started but Mike cut her off.

"How are you going to track down my family?" Mike asked her as he knew she was avoiding the question he really wanted the answer for.

"I'll head to Deer park and ask questions and track them from there on" Kate told him with a shrug like it would be that easy when she knew it was probably going to be a royal pain in the ass. _Probably..._ Kate inwardly scoffed as she knew it was going to take a lot more than asking questions. If only there was some form of infrastructure in place for her to utilise but there was nothing.

"Why would you do this for me?" he asked her, she gave him an incredulous look. Kate took the computer and placed it on the coffee table before she turned her body to face him and took his hands in hers.

"Because I want to get laid in the next six months" Kate deadpanned, Mike gave her an annoyed look as he didn't appreciate her response. So Kate adjusted her hold on his hands and took a breath before looking at him with a serious expression. He couldn't help but notice her right hand was weaker than her left when it squeezed his. "I figured it was obvious by now that I care about you and part of being with you is making and keeping you happy" Kate told him.

"I don't want you running off the ship and ending up in a situation like what happened on the Vyerni. I want to be with you, have your back" he told her. He didn't want to be on the ship worrying about her out there or losing her again. He could barely contain his pain and worry about his daughter, he wouldn't be able to think straight if she was out there. Kate gave him a soft smile.

"I'm not running away, I'm finding your daughters and ensuring their safety. I can protect them. The Vyerni was an awkward situation" Kate told him casual dismissing his concern over what happened on the Vyerni.

"Awkward situation?" he scoffed inwardly annoyed and in awe with her strength.

"I was unarmed and drunk. This next time I leave the ship, I'll have guns and knives" Kate said with a smile.

"I don't like it" Mike grumbled.

"Yeah well even if we refuelled the helo there's no way the Captain would let me borrow it for a side trip" Kate said in a rich tone.

"And I hate to ask but what do you plan to do with my wife?" he asked, he hated asking it but it had to be discussed. He watched as Kate pursed her lips; knowing she had a few choice comments but was keeping them to herself.

"I'll keep her alive" Kate said rather begrudgingly, at that he smiled as he felt the same. He didn't wish Christina to be dead but it would have been a lot better if Christina and he were divorced and they had some kind of custody arrangement. But Mike knew Christina would have taken full custody and he wouldn't have had the slightest clue where his kids were or what happened to Lucas.

"You know we haven't really talked about that" Mike said awkwardly, he had told her he wanted her but he didn't like the idea of how he was still married and what it made him and Kate appear as. He; the 'Adulterer' and her; his 'mistress' when it wasn't like that at all. Their relationship wasn't about him just getting his rocks off for fun. It was more serious than that but somehow labelling themselves made it more affirming and real.

"I'm amoral remember, that stuff shouldn't bother me" Kate told him snidely as she remembered his comment from before about her being cold and inhuman.

"There's a difference between married and legally separated like I was 5 years ago" he told her ignoring her comment as he didn't want to insult her morality or her integrity. Kate looked at him for a long moment before she gave a sigh and looked away as she hated showing her insecurities even to Mike.

"What bothers me is that I'm already emotionally involved and there is a real chance that you will see your wife and kids and decide that you will try to reconcile with-" Kate started but Mike cut her off. He reached out and cupped the side of her face with one hand and turned her face she was looking at him. He could see she was going through hell at just the thought that he'd walk away from her again. She might have let him go but that didn't by any means make it easy for her.

"Not happening" He assured her, he held her eyes with a steady gaze so she wouldn't misinterpret what he was saying. But it seemed she wasn't entirely confidence as she gave him a sad smile.

"She's the mother of your children and at one stage you loved her" Kate told him, Mike nodded in agreement as he didn't feel it necessary to lie to her.

"All true, but we've talked about this. I'm not reconciling with Christina. I've been there and tried that multiple times and failed. So trust me when I say it's not something I'll be changing my mind about either. I want to be with you" He told her, he hoped she believed him as he didn't want her to be forever doubting him as there was a big difference between a fling and what he was suggesting. Hell, the fact that she admitted to being 'emotionally involved' was big step for her to say given how she joked around. "I'm committed to you" he told her firmly so there was no room for her to misunderstand him.

Kate looked at him for a long moment as she believed him and at the same time found it unbelievable like being in a dream. Unable to stop herself she rose up onto one knee and wrapped her left hand around his neck before she claimed his mouth with her in a potent kiss. She stroked his lips apart with her tongue, demanding and taking.

Mike was slightly thrown by the kiss as he had expected a witty remark. But this was better, much better. He groaned and felt Kate melt into him as he pulled her over his lap to get a better angle to kiss her and touch her. Only for Kate to make a noise of pain and pull away from his kiss and him.

"Sorry" he said to her, breathing heavily as he hadn't meant to get carried away. She gave him a smile and shook her head. His brain annoyingly reminded him of his 'No sex on the ship' rule. It was probably best given her arm but looking at Kate, her face so flushed and lips swollen from kissing. It was hard to keep a level head and frankly he was already at the bargaining stage in his head. _Just a few more minutes_.. he told himself.

"It's still attached to me" she teased him as she pulled herself up and swung a leg over his lap and straddled him. "And stop thinking, it's annoying me" Kate told him. Mike would have chuckled but instead groaned as she settled firmly over his erection and cupped the back of his neck with her left hand. Arching against him, she kissed him hard on the lips and with a growl, he opened his mouth, slanting his lips over here. Kate thrust her tongue between his teeth and Mike nearly lost what self control he had left. For all he wanted to do was to strip them both down naked and bury himself in her.

Kate moaned as pleasure washed over her and made her feel whole, beautiful, alive. She shivered in pleasure as Mike slide his hands slowly down her back to her hips. He gripped her hips tightly stopping her from grinding against him.

"We have a problem" Mike whispered raggedly against her lips. He was frustrated as he wanted her closer and naked as he needed to feel her skin against his. But it would have to wait even though she was hot in his arms right now.

"I can't find any problem" Kate told him as she ran a hand down his body but Mike caught her hand before it could reach its intended destination and placed it back on his shoulder. "Except for your rules" she said as she pressed soft kisses along his jaw line moving to his ear.

"No protection" he told her, he for a microsecond couldn't believe he had just opened that door. He should of said he had his rules and the word he gave to Tom but fuck, his body right now didn't give a crap about any of that. It wanted Kate, right here and now but even his body couldn't override his mind.

"Well, we can still mess around. Can't we?" Kate whispered hotly in his ear, Mike nearly came out of his skin when she gently traced the edge of his ear with her tongue. It had been way, way too long since he last had sex which was embarrassing given he was married.

"You're going to embarrass me if you keep that up" he confessed to her as Kate continued to slowly but pleasurably torture him with her tongue and hands. The embarrassing part was that she wasn't even moving her hips and yet he was damn near about to come in his pants in less than a minute like a teenager. "Seriously, dial it back. It's been a while" he added, hating how pathetic it made him sound.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Kate teased as she pulled back from his ear, she couldn't help but get him heated up given that he was doing the same to her. But to hear his admission of not getting laid in a while suggested to her that it had been a lot longer than the six months they had been at sea. But she wasn't about to ask how long given that he'd probably ask her the same question. She looked at him and couldn't help but be a little glad to hear him say so as it made her feel beautiful and vivacious to be able to push him over his edge with little effort.

"Off the ship waiting at the closest available accommodations" He told her, Kate chuckled before he pulled her into a searing kiss. Not even he was willing to stop wherever this was going. "Just ride me" he mumbled against her lips as he released her hands and grabbed her by the hips and grounded himself against her. Setting the tempo and motions until she match them. A low gasp escaped her mouth before Mike pulled her face down to his. He kissed her soundly, her little moans and whimpers driving him onward. He cupped the back of her neck with one hand and moved his other hand slowly up her back under her shirt enjoying the softness of her skin and how her body eagerly responded to under his touch.

He pulled back from her lips and Kate dropped her head back arching her neck. He grazed his teeth over her pulse in her neck making her gasp. "Quiet" he chastised her playfully as he heard her curse under her breath as he nuzzled that sweet spot just below her ear. Kate's breath quickened as did her hips as she rocked like a wild thing as he grounded against her, seeking her release. He felt her body tightened and her back arched up as she climaxed in his arms. He continued to ground up against her, not stopping.

Kate came completely unravelled as shudders rippled through her. Waves of pleasure rippled through her as she caught her breath and she felt his body clench. Barely a few second later, he pulled her close and buried his face in her neck as he gave a sharp groan as he followed her climax with his own.

Kate slumped onto him as he fell back against the lounge; out of breath. She had forgotten how amazing it was to have an orgasm. Her body was still twitching and melting from the after effects as Mike ran a hand up her back making her shudder with pleasure. "If you keep doing that, I won't be able to respect your rules" Kate said in unsteady voice as she was still catching her breath.

Mike chuckled as he couldn't help it if Kate's back was her erogenous zone. That and the fact that they'd satisfied one another without removing a stitch of clothing. He picked her left hand in his and intertwined their fingers bringing the back of her palm to his lips for a gentle kiss.

"How's the arm?" he asked her.

"What arm?" she mumbled tiredly as she pressed her face into his neck and gave a small yawn. He didn't think what they had done was all that vigorous but it had tired Kate out. He could feel her grow heavy against him as fatigue washed over her.

"You falling asleep on me?" he asked, stereotypically it should be his job to fall asleep not hers but he felt invigorated. Maybe not ready for round two yet but he was definitely refreshed.

"Nope, just taking in the moment. How do you feel about entering a grey area again?" Kate asked him as she snuggled closer to him.

"It's not a grey area in my books" Mike told her as he held her close. He'd have to move her soon but right now he was going to relish the afterglow for a few more moments.

"We just passed second base heading to third. I didn't think your Navy would agree with such actions" Kate said teasingly.

"New rules; in this room when the door is locked. It's just you and me" he told her.

"Until someone knocks on the door or calls you on your radio" Kate drawled in a dry tone as she lifted her head from neck and looked at him. Mike moved his hands to her face and smoothed her hair back.

"Which is why I don't want the first time we have sex after 5 years to be interrupted. Hence 'No sex on the ship'." he told her.

"But dry humping me for ten minutes is completely fine?" Kate asked him trying not to laugh.

"It was less than five minutes" he said correcting her, Kate bit her bottom lip trying not to burst out laughing as he looked and sounded really proud of it when most men would be cringing and apologising.

"Yeah you shouldn't be proud of that considering you shot your gun right after me" Kate told him in an amused tone.

"I am, prolonged chafing is not healthy for man" He told her and at that Kate burst out laughing and dropped her head onto his chest. "It's not that funny, chafing can be worse than a severe case of blue balls. Where's the sympathy?" he asked mockingly as Kate was still laughing at him. He liked hearing the sound of her laughter even if it was a little at his own expense.

"Off the ship waiting at the closest available accommodations" Kate told him before dissolving into laughter again.

"Well, if that's the case. I'm going to go back to work" Mike told her gruffly as he pulled her off his lap and set her down on the lounge as he shook his head at her.

"Oh don't go" Kate said grabbing onto his arm. "I have the deepest sympathy for you and your balls" she deadpanned but he could see the corners of her mouth twitching to try and smile.

"Yeah right, come here" he told her, dragging her to him for one last kiss before he went to get changed.

* * *

Mike had difficulties keeping a straight face since he left Kate an hour ago. All he could think about was how he had left her on the lounge in a fit of laughter to go to clean himself up and get changed into his BDUs'. When he came back, he found her fast asleep on the lounge.

He couldn't help but muse at how he managed to keep his pants on the entire time with Kate and exhaust her. Though he was glad he hadn't been wearing his BDUs at the time as he would have had his zipper painfully imprinted on his junk. He said they'd start fresh with their relationship. He just didn't think it would literally be like flashing back to his high school days given that was the last time he could remember dry humping a girl. He was pretty sure his teenage self would cringe with embarrassment and chastise him for not going for a home run with Kate. But he didn't care as it had been felt fucking amazing to have Kate in his arms, feeling her come apart and hearing her breathy noises as she tried to stay quiet, knowing with little effort that he was giving her pleasure. To be reminded that he wasn't completely inept or forgotten how to please a woman was a major ego stroke for him.

He looked towards the tent, what he saw inside only added to his day as the 'adjustment' Dr Scott made to the vaccine not only worked but seemed to revive the remaining five in the tent. When he had returned those in the tent had been slowly waking up and looking more alert. Now after they had been given a meal and some fluid, it looked like they were on their way to being 100%. Tex seemed to have the most energy as he was standing up and flirting with Dr Scott. The woman wasn't having a bar of it as she told Tex to get back into bed. But the man took her set down and turned it into a joke making everyone smile.

The door to the room opened and Mike watched as Kate stepped in. "Allow me" Mike said as he moved to the door and closed it for her.

"Thank you Commander" Kate said licking her lips as she knew exactly what he was thinking. The only sad part of the moment was that she couldn't poke fun at him or even greet him with a kiss.

"Red! Over here!" he called out, Kate turned her attention to the tent and noticed that Tex was up on his feet waving for her to come over. She gave the man an indulgent smile as relief and general amusement warmed her.

"Well, looks like your tent is one of hope and not doom after all" Kate joked as she strode up to the tent and looked through the plastic wall to her friend. He was pale and had a few lesions on his skin but otherwise he looked well.

"Yeah, I see you haven't lost any sleep over me" Tex retorted in good humour.

"I had drugs to help me through the night. So, I take it you're not going to die?" Kate asked Tex, she looked around him to see the others in the tent were alive and also looking like they were going to be making a full recovery. Judging by the grin on Rachel's face as she stood in the back in HAZMAT suit; Kate knew the trial was a success.

"Nope, the doc saved us with her brilliance" Tex assured, looking proud and self assured as he had always had complete trust and faith in Rachel's abilities.

"Damn and here I was looking forward to inheriting your boots" Kate said mockingly as she

"Sweetheart, you wouldn't fit in my boots" Tex told her in a serious tone. Kate took a step back and lifted up one of her feet and inspected it for a second before stepping back and looking at his own.

"I could make them stretch" Kate replied tongue in cheek as she insinuated that his feet were smaller than hers. She knew like any man they didn't like any part of their body referred to as 'small'. Just like a typical man Tex took the bait.

"My feet are bigger than yours and was that what you were thinking while watching me in here? When you could get your hands on my boots?" He asked her incredulously. Kate made a face and shook her head.

"No, of course not. I also thought about caramel ice cream, the weather, if it's good weather for flying and what book I should read once I get to dry land and find a library or Barnes and Nobles. Oh and how I needed to get myself a new jacket. I really do hope I can find a decent leather jacket" Kate said in a casual manner. Tex's jaw had dropped halfway through her list as he looked shocked to know she hadn't just stood around weeping and begging him to live like majority of the crew had been doing with the other four occupants.

"I nearly died and all you were thinking about your stomach and wardrobe?" Tex asked incredulously.

"And flying" Kate added as if it just as important as all the other things she had been thinking about.

"Seriously?" he asked her.

"Why should I get weepy eyed for a guy who doesn't have the good graces to die and leave me his boots?" Kate asked acting like she was one with the difficult part in the events that passed. She hadn't missed the smiles of humour on those behind Tex as they watched on.

"I had the virus with a killing rate of 99%" Tex told her looking rather crestfallen at the lack of affection from her.

"And you survived, I knew you'd be in that 1% Congratulations" Kate replied.

"I may have survived but I still got a nasty rash" Tex told her.

"You probably shouldn't publicise that if you want to get laid anytime soon" Kate advised him,

"You know drawing sympathy from you is like trying to get blood out of stone" Tex told her, she gave him a smile.

* * *

Tom moved to the back area of the the tent moved around the outside to the small back area where Rachel was taking a break. He could still hear Kate and Tex bantering in the background and the laughter from the onlookers.

"Can we talk about what I hope is going on there?" Tom said gesturing to the survivors of the first trial. The smiling faces of five people who had been on their deathbeds mere hours ago. Rachel leaned on the storage containers and nodded. A slight smile gracing her lips as she had looked at the final results of the blood test before coming out the back for a break.

"We have it." Tom said, he stood there tense with expectation and mixed emotions as he wasn't sure what to think. What to feel "We have a vaccine" he said unsteadily as he was waiting for her to correct him. To tell him that she had failed as right now everything felt almost dreamlike due his self induced sleep deprivation.

He watched as Rachel placed her drink bottle on the storage container and touch it. Not looking at him, not saying anything. He braced himself for bad news as he just knew it was too good to be true to think their mission was nearly over. That he was that much closer to being able to save his family. Rachel took a deep breath and turned to face him.  
"We don't just have a vaccine. We have the cure." Rachel told him as she walked up to him. Her voice wavered and he saw the surprise and yet confidence in her response. All of his pain, the anger he felt, the struggles he had from the decisions he had made that affected not just his life but the lives of his crew were somehow justified. The decisions he had made had brought them here to this success, a success that would save not just his family but the world and it was thanks to the woman standing in front of him. Never in his wildest dreams would he think she would create a cure but she had which filled him with overwhelming hope. It meant that no matter what state he found his family he could save them. He could bring them back to the safety of the ship and it was thanks to Rachel's brilliance.  
"You mean-"he started but he couldn't get the words out as his emotions that he usually had excellent control of welled up within him choking his throat. Tears burned his eyes as he couldn't get the words out.

Rachel gave a half smile, her eyes filling with tears of joy. He couldn't help but think right in that moment she was at her most beautiful as he could see the months of little sleep and stress washed out of her features.

"I mean that we can save people who are already sick." Rachel told him. Tom shook his head in disbelief as he could kiss her for confirming that they had a cure. He pulled her against his body and wrapped his arms around her shoulders holding her tightly as he couldn't find the words to begin to describe what he was feeling.

Rachel choked out half a laugh of joy before the tears took over as she wrapped her arms around Tom. She couldn't believe her luck that Kate had pulled out that one file that gave her inspiration. That it worked and excelled her expectations. She hadn't known what to expect but after hours of hearing Quincy tell her worst case scenarios of her course of action; it was nice to victorious. To find some relief after months of arguing her way into being able to find the primordial strain of the virus in the Arctic, the following months of searching and lying to Tom and the crew. She buried her face in his chest as the emotions she had been holding onto overwhelmed her. She felt Tom's hard body heave a breath and her shirt collar grew damp as she knew he was crying. She gripped onto him as tightly as he held her and hoping selfishly he wouldn't let her go just yet.


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews and everyone who has taken the time to read my story thus far! and as always enjoy :-)

* * *

**Chapter 44**

* * *

A couple days later, those in quarantine were cleared by medical and released back into the ship. Rachel had felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. The crew seemed friendlier and in general the atmosphere was far less tense than before. Though it was probably due to the success of the trial. They may have lost Gibson but the others had survived and had been released back into the ship to rest in their bunks as they were cured of the virus but their bodies still needed to recuperate.

She had to admit quietly to herself that she was glad the trial hadn't been a complete failure and that Tex was no longer under her care. Though as humorous and caring that he was, she didn't want his flirtations as they felt empty and only made for amusement sake not because he was seriously interested in her. Even so, it wasn't like she had the time to indulge him or anyone given she had a vaccine/cure to manufacture and a second trial to endure

She stood in the hangar bay that had housed her make shift lab for months and watched as the space was being rearranged yet again. Half of her lab had been restored to its earlier appearance with the exception of two cots that had been moved to the back area. It was purposefully placed that way to allow Kate and Tom some privacy given this second trial wasn't exactly being broadcast through the ship given it meant explaining why Kate was different than the rest of them. Also it meant shedding light on Neils and Lassiter Industries subsequent involvement in this catastrophic events.

Tom had wisely decided there was no point in warranting the crew's fear of more carriers until they knew how 1. the carriers besides Neils were made and 2. if the vaccine/cure Rachel had devised would still work with someone who had 'malleable genes'. Rachel frowned as she hated the term 'malleable genes', Quincy was the one who had coined it as he argued that it was dangerous to try the trial as Kate's genes could possibly absorb or mutate when it came into contact with the virus creating an even more virulent strain. No one wanted that result but Quincy had no evidence to back his claim but he argued they would all know he was right when Kate proved his hypothesis.

Rachel hoped for all parties involved that it didn't as they needed this victory, they needed to feel like they were winning and more importantly they needed Tom Chandler to survive. He was the one who gave them confidence, restored their faith when it was needed the most. She needed him to survive for the sake of the mission. She needed him-

Rachel was broken from her reverie when the internal door to the Hangar bay opened behind her. She turned to see Kate thank the crewmember who had helped open the door for her. She stepped through and Rachel immediately spotted the lack of shoes on the Redhead's feet. She couldn't help but smile just a little as it seemed to have become a game between Kate, Tom and Commander Slattery. Sometimes Rachel could see glimpses of what the men were as fathers as they tended to berate the woman like she were an errant child they had to chase around the ship just to keep in line.

Though Kate looked none the worse for being chastised as she still ran around the ship with bare feet and much to Rachel's envy was looking well rested and in good spirits. Though for some reason; Rachel didn't believe for a moment it was the fact that they had been successful with their mission. No, Rachel surmised that it had something to do with Commander Slattery who was also surprisingly in a good mood these days as well. The man had actually greeted her with a 'Good Morning' at the coffee machine and it had been articulate and not sarcastic. It was slightly unnerving given Rachel was not entirely sure the reasons as why the Commander was happy but he was.

"Hey" Kate said with a smile after the door to the Hangar bay was closed behind her. It was the first time they had been alone together in a while. Though technically Quincy was in the tent with Rio rearranging furniture; Rachel didn't count it as they couldn't hear what she and Kate would say to one another unless the two of them shouted given the comms had been turned off.

"Good Morning" Rachel told her, for once actually feeling the words were true instead of it being a socially accepted form of greeting. "How are you?" Rachel asked.

"Alright" Kate said with a shrug. Her long red hair was pulled back into a haphazard bun and she was dressed in her black yoga ¾ tights, dark grey tank with her cream lightweight scoop neck jumper over the top. Her arm was still in the sling but majority of her injuries were nearly healed. Something that Rachel found interesting but made no comment on as she knew Kate wasn't ready to be put under the microscope. That and Rachel had enough on her plate to keep her busy adding Kate and her genetics to it wasn't necessary. She also just wanted to have one friend on this ship who wasn't a medical case study and after they finished this one trial it would hopefully be the only time Rachel would have her under the scope.

"Well, come on over and sit down so I can take a look at you" Rachel told her.

"So how are you going?" Kate asked as they moved to the desk and sat down on the two stools.

"I'm still reeling" Rachel replied as she helped Kate pull off her sling and then pull off her jumper so Rachel could get a closer inspection. She needed to make sure Kate was healing properly with no infections. As long as the rest of Kate was healthy besides her physical injuries the trial could proceed. Once the jumper cleared Kate's head Rachel placed it on the table and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and wrapped her stethoscope around her neck before rolled her stool so she was seated facing Kate's side.

"Most of the crew are too" Kate commented.

"But you're not" Rachel asked, a little bewildered as she was taken back by the state of Kate's injuries. Or more like the lack of injuries, the small cuts and grazes were almost healed and the bruises that had been deep blue and gnarly reds were not green and yellow and some completely gone.

"I am, I'm just keeping it all on the inside" Kate said looking straight ahead.

"Liar" Rachel said as she gently started probing Kate's arm and shoulder with her hands to see if the bones were all where they were supposed to be sitting and to see if the swelling Kate had been enduring was still present.

"I'm sorry does it make you uncomfortable that I'm not prone to sudden outbursts of emotion?" Kate asked her in a casual tone, Rachel looked to Kate who had turned her head and quirked an eyebrow waiting for her response.

"We both know that is not true" Rachel told her.

"You being uncomfort-" Kate started but Rachel cut her off as she learned Kate used obtuse understanding as defence mechanism to deflect the conversation away from whatever sensitive issue was about to be talked about.

"No, you being emotionally stunted" Rachel informed her as she knew Kate. The woman was not emotionally stunted, she was just highly skilled at detaching herself from her emotions to the point it made her appear aloof and numb but it didn't mean somewhere under that exterior Kate didn't feel anything.

"Speaking of emotionally stunted people" Kate bulldozed through Rachel's compliment "I noticed that you and the Captain had a moment a few days ago" Kate said, she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively and Rachel couldn't stop the physical reaction as a blush crept onto her cheeks.

She had secretly hoped no one had noticed that moment between her and Tom as it had been private and frankly a little confusing. Tom had embraced her in what had been an incredibly emotional moment for both of them. She had found a cure that would save many people's lives including Tom Chandler's family. She didn't have anyone off the ship to race to, no one she cared deeply about still alive and around for to save. But she was happy for her success as it had given back hope to those on the ship that their sacrifices had been worth it and they would all at some point get a chance to save their families.

The confusing part, that Rachel had been trying hard not to overthink was how long and tightly he had embraced her. The emotions and sensations it had awoken in her, her personal wants and desires, how much she missed being touched in more than a perfunctory fashion. She didn't want to admit she was attracted to the Captain but it was hard to deny it when she was wrapped up in his arms. For one moment, it felt amazing and when he pulled slightly back from the embrace and looked down at her, she sensed a tension and though perhaps he felt the pull between them. But she had been wrong as he had immediately dropped his arms away from her and stepped back. It followed by an incredibly awkward moment before he said thank you again and abruptly left. All in all, it confused her.

"It was nothing, just him showing his gratitude" Rachel said to Kate but she wasn't sure who she was trying convince more herself or Kate. Rachel told herself that Tom realised how inappropriate he was being when he hugged her and was probably embarrassed for being 'swept away' but the moment. She only told herself that as the last couple of days he spoke to her in a clipped professional manner. It was like the hug never happened and he didn't want any sense of familiarity between them.

"Seemed like a prolonged form of gratitude given he just gives me a half hearted 'thank you' and awkward silence" Kate said making a face as Rachel purposefully lifted her arm in the hopes of getting Kate to stop prying into her situation with Tom. _If it was even a situation..._ Rachel thought as she focused on the task in front of her.

"You want to tell me how it's been like cohabitating with Commander Slattery?" Rachel asked in a low voice changing the topic.

"It's ok, he's a neat freak just like you but unlike you; he doesn't snore" Kate told her, there was just such a casualness to Kate's response that Rachel almost believed her except for the part about her snoring. Rachel knew for a fact she never snored except when she had a bad cold.

"Yet, we've never spooned at night" Rachel remarked dryly as she decided to ignore the comment about her snoring.

"We could but only if I'm the big spoon. It's nice to get variety you know" Kate told her, Rachel chuckled.

"Maybe when I'm feeling lonely" Rachel joked.

"I'm available, day or night" "So tell me, how does it all look?"

"Well, it looks like I was wrong about your arm being broken" Rachel said as she pulled the stethoscope from her around her neck and proceeded to instruct Kate to take a couple deep inhales and exhales. She still couldn't help but be oddly surprised at how quickly the bruises had turned green and were starting to fade given the severity of the injuries. But then what Rachel had been reading in Kate's medical file. So it shouldn't have been too surprising at all but seeing the results of a successful gene therapy trial. Though in Kate's trial those genes should have been dormant yet seeing how quickly she was quick healing suggested otherwise.

"Lungs sound good" Rachel told her as she pulled the stethoscope from her ears and went through her mental checklist of what she needed to check Kate for but so far Kate was ticking all the boxes for being fine for being in the trial. Not like she had a choice.

"Awesome" Kate said, Rachel rolled her stool over to the table and faced Kate head on and then proceeded to take Kate's blood pressure and temperate both well within the normal parameters.

"How are the ribs?" Rachel asked Kate.

"Still hurt, I'll concede that I might have a broken rib or two." Kate informed her. Rachel nodded as she expected Kate to have some broken bones from her time on the Vyerni. Not that either of them spoke about what happened over there. It seemed easier to move on that think upon their actions whatever they were.

"I expected as much, you were lucky given the situation" Rachel said to her. Kate winced at Rachel's words and looked away which made Rachel curious but she didn't question it as she knew it wasn't her place.

"True" Kate said in a serious manner before she she turned her head back to face Rachel. Whatever brooding thoughts had crossed through Kate's mind in that second were gone as she asked. "So when are we going to start the second trial?"

"Tonight" Rachel told her.

"Even with my ribs and arm?" Kate asked surprised by the answer.

"You're healing remarkably well and for what we doing they have no influence on the results. The vaccine will work as it did for the others. You might feel some side effects like headache, slight fever. But given our main concern is discerning if you are going to become a carrier or not; you don't need to be completely healed for the trial" Rachel told her.

"But won't I just contract the virus and become ill?" Kate asked, Rachel nodded as she knew what Kate was thinking. That her system was compromised by having to heal itself from her injuries that adding a virus into the mix was dangerous for her health but in this case it was negligible as it would just mean a slightly longer recovery though given how rapid Kate's healing was the woman probably wouldn't notice.

"Yes but if like Quincy likes to believe;you will become a carrier then you will become asymptomatic in essence you will be completely fine" Rachel told her though she secretly hoped Quincy was wrong. She needed him to be wrong.

"Basically, I'll feel great while making people sick?" Kate asked for clarification.

"Yes" Rachel answered with a nod.

"how exactly are we going to know test this out?" Kate asked. Rachel gave her a pointed look as Kate knew the answer. It meant someone from the crew who was yet to be vaccinated would have to be in the room with her. "Right, stupid question. So who's volunteering for that duty of being my canary?" Kate asked with a sardonic smile.

"The Captain volunteered" Rachel told her, she pursed her lips trying not to smile as Kate had likened Tom to a small yellow bird with a history of being used as a warning system for gas leaks in the mines. She watched as Kate's eyes went wide with shock.

"Chandler and I in that tent for 24 hours?" Kate asked incredulously as she gestured to the tented room.

"Yes, he was quite adamant that he wouldn't sit on the sidelines of this trial" Rachel informed her.

"The man has a death wish" Kate told her before shaking her head in disbelief. Rachel couldn't help but concur as she sorely wished she had been able to convince Tom not to do the trial.

* * *

"I don't think you should be in the second trial" Mike said to Tom after the wardroom emptied out from their meeting to discuss their next course of action. Basically the meeting had been decided that they would proceed to Fort Detrick and hope the best that it was still operating even given the information they had. Now it was just the two of them, Mike saw an opportunity to talk Tom out of his current madness of trying to be in the trial with Kate.

He wanted to talk him out of it for several reasons but the main was that they needed Tom alive to keep the mission going. That and frankly Mike wanted to be in the trial with Kate. He couldn't handle the idea of being on the outside looking in and given that the crew believed they were at the manufacturing stage and not still in the testing phase meant that Tom didn't have the luxury of disappearing for two days. Neither did Mike but it was either him or Tom and frankly he'd rather spend quality time with Kate than Tom have that pleasure.

"You think I can't handle 24 hours in the same room with Lassiter?" Tom asked mockingly. Mike gave him that look that said he wasn't amused as he sat down at the table opposite Tom with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.

"I think you two might kill one another before the 24 hours are up and my money is on Kate walking out the victor" Mike told him and he wasn't joking either. Another of the few reasons Mike felt Tom shouldn't be in the trial. Mike knew he wouldn't be able to handle the bickering between Kate and Tom since he would be observing.

"Your confidence in my abilities to subdue one woman astounds me" Tom drawled sarcastically.

"You've never been in a physical fight with women, so naturally Kate would take advantage of that weakness" Mike said with a shrug, he was half jesting but realistically he could see Kate taking a swing at Tom if Tom pushed the wrong buttons with her. He already knew the two didn't get along so it was the only excuse he could use to his advantage.

"She was rather ruthless on the Vyerni" Tom said thoughtfully scratching chin as he could still remember Russian man Kate had killed. It hadn't missed his attention that his wounds were made with practised precision. Given her state at the time he would have expected her fighting to be messy but it hadn't been. In fact she had nearly killed him out of reflex but his reflexes were faster.

"So you can see my concern about you going in a confined space with her considering the effort we put in saving your ass?" Mike told Tom.

"How long are you going to keep bringing that up?" Tom asked as it was probably the third time Mike had made that comment.

"Only until you remember you're the Captain and that your duty isn't to go cowboying around. You've proved that you're willing to head into a dangerous situation. Now we need you to lead from a safe distance for just a few weeks" Mike told him.

"That a subtle order?" Tom asked him in a droll tone as he didn't want to remind Mike how the command structure worked.

"No, it was a strong suggestion" Mike replied snidely before he took a sip of his coffee.

"So, let me guess. If I back out of the trial then you'll take my place?" Tom asked him.

"Yep" Mike said placing his mug on the table in front of him. This was the moment where Mike knew would be the hard sell of asking Tom to back out.

"Why would you do it?" Tom asked.

"It's either you or me given that you agreed not to disclose the medical reasons for why Kate has to be in her own trial. This is more of a formality anyway. The vaccine/cure will work" Mike said.

"Maybe but Tophett believes that there is a 60% chance Lassiter will become a carrier. So she could end up in that tent until we vaccinate the whole crew" Tom said uncomfortably as he didn't want to add in that Mike would be in grave danger. He could hear Tophet's predictions of the virus mutating in Kate and becoming more virulent which would mean the vaccine/cure wouldn't work. If that happened then Mike would die.

"Look at the bright side she'd be out of my stateroom" Mike said.

"Missing your privacy?" Tom asked.

"Definitely" Mike lied, he didn't mind Kate being in his stateroom even if she had taken over his coffee table and any given space on the wall opposite it with post it notes and taped up pieces of paper. It made half is office/living area look like it belonged to a conspiracy theorist. He was just lucky no one had given her red string as he didn't need her taking her crazy to the next level.

"I know that you haven't been bunking with Burk" Tom said, saying what had been left unsaid between them. He wanted Mike to know he wasn't a fool and that he was aware of the impropriety of the situation even if he was turning a blind eye.

"You doing bed checks?" Mike asked slightly amused Tom would even bring it up.

"No and I remember what you were like that year her and you were together. It's the same as you are now. you're -" Tom stopped himself as he didn't want to say 'content' but it was the only descriptive he could apply to the situation. He also didn't feel it was right to think it was ok for Mike to be happy with a woman who wasn't his wife or support it given the moral implications of the situation.

"I'm what?" Mike prompted out of curiosity and slight amusement as it took a lot to make Tom stumble with his words.

"You're-" Tom still stumbling to find the right word. He hated not being able to say what he wanted to because he knew whatever he said would be taken the wrong way.

If he said Mike looked 'content' then Mike would correct him and ask him how could he be content given that he was separated from his family and still grieving the loss of his son. Tom still saw the pain on friend's face, just glimpses of it to know that even with his controlled features some emotions slipped through.

Or he could be crude and claimed he thought Mike was getting laid which would make Mike interpret that Tom didn't trust him to keep his word to Tom or upkeep the codes and practices of being an officer and a gentleman. It was an insult to Mike's character and not one Tom wanted to make. But there was something going on between Mike and Kate and whatever it was seemed to create a calmness in Mike's demeanour that Tom hadn't seen for a long while.

"I'm amazed that you're struggling to find the words for whatever you're trying to say." Mike told him.

"Nothing seems appropriate. Just like you getting tangled up with Lassiter again" Tom said giving up but also getting his point across clearly enough as Mike pursed his lips in slight displeasure. But then what Tom really wanted to ask was what made Kate worth risk of injury to Mike's reputation and career. Why was she worth it now when over 4 years ago he'd given her up only to pick back up again now?

It was something that had been on his mind ever since he had nearly kissed Rachel. He stopped from actually doing so but after a decade of being married and never once being tempted to stray; he couldn't understand why it had nearly happened. Or maybe he did and he just didn't want to admit it which was why he wanted to compare and contrast with Mike and Kate. Maybe if he wasn't the same as Mike in this regard then he could just brush off the moment as just that; a moment of heightened emotion with an attractive and highly intelligent woman that meant exactly nothing.

It was probably way he was hoping that if he did ask then he'd learn that maybe Mike was just using Kate to process his grief. Latching onto something familiar and garnering comfort he couldn't from their friendship or the crew. He wanted to believe they weren't having sex as Mike said he'd adhere to the no fraternisation rule but Tom couldn't figure out what made them work as a couple. But he could think of a few obvious and superficial reasons which for some reason just didn't seem to fit Mike's character.

"I hardly call sharing office space with her as being 'tangled' " Mike told him but he knew what Tom was getting at and tried not to be annoyed by the subtle accusation of fraternisation even if it was true. Sure he and Kate hadn't had sex yet but they had had some heady moments of making out like teenagers and getting slowly reacquainted with one another. It was all incredibly enjoyable and also incredibly tame but given their lack of time. His duties and Kate being between pain killers, sleep and her crazy wall; it didn't leave a lot of energy either.

"Where are you sleeping? I'm talking to you as my best friend here not the Captain" Tom said hoping to angle the conversation into talking to Mike more deeply about Kate and Mike's relationship.

"And yet you're both the same person" Mike said pointing out the obvious as the line between best friend and Captain blurred.

"You didn't answer the question" Tom said pointing out that Mike avoided answering the question.

"In my bed alone whilst she's doing her wall art" Mike lied, half lied to be exact but he wasn't going to get into details with Mike as it was none of the Tom's business. It wasn't over 4 years ago and definitely wasn't right now.

"Do I look like I came down in the last shower?" Tom asked dryly and Mike took a deep breath to temper his annoyance as Tom was pushing it.

"No but I guess I should come clean." Mike said with a sigh, he looked to Tom and wondered why the man wanted to talk about him and Kate given Tom usually allowed him his privacy. "You caught me out. I'm molesting her while she's unconscious on drugs." Mike deadpanned, Tom gave an indignant huff as Mike wasn't taking seriously at all. "Perhaps we should rush her to medical and make sure I didn't knock her up with triplets because Slattery men are potent like that. If she is pregnant we'll have to talk about where to put the nurse-"

"Ok, ok I'm sorry I brought it up" Tom said cutting Mike off mid sentence as he could see the man was channelling Kate's propensity to be dramatic. Mike chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Seriously, you should arrest me now or perhaps we can get Chung to rig up a plank for me to walk off of" Mike joked.

"Are you done yet?" Tom asked in an exhausted tone.

"for the moment, anyway why are pushing the subject?" Mike asked out of curiosity.

"I'm not" Tom said even though they both knew it wasn't true but Mike gave a shrug accepting the answer. Tom's tone seemed to have a note of finality that said the subject would be dropped.

"Ok,I'll tell Dr Scott you're out and I'm taking your place in the trial tonight" Mike said as he picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip.

"I haven't made the decision about that yet" Tom told him as he didn't like Mike overstepping particularly on this subject. Nor did he like that he hadn't gotten the answers he had wanted either.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

* * *

"Let me get this right. You're going to be quarantined tonight and you want me to order the Galley to make you pancakes?" Mike asked her as he continued to sign off the reports on his desk. Kate sat in the guest chair by his desk flexing her injured arm and wincing with pain. Her sling laid across her lap as she continued to test her limits.

It was incredibly distracting given that she was talking about being in the second trial of the vaccine and making ludicrous requests. Sure it seemed like Dr Scott had saved the first group but who knew if the second group would be as lucky. He didn't want to admit it out loud but he did have his misgivings but given Kate's medical history of being in a gene therapy program and whatever the hell the scientists at Avocet had done to her meant she had to be in the trial. It was a subject they left untouched because every time Mike tried to talk to her about it; Kate changed the subject but it was clear she was upset and angry about it. He didn't blame her for feeling so but he had a feeling there was more to it but wasn't ready to open that can of worms especially given that they would never have enough time to talk about it properly and it wasn't the kind of conversation to leave open ended.

"Yes and yes. I deserve to have a last meal before for 24hrs and I'll be stuck with the Captain. Doesn't that make me qualify for pancakes since it's the best the galley can offer" Kate said. Mike's lips quirked into a smile as he continued to read over the reports in front of him.

What Kate didn't know was that Dr Scott had already spoken with Tom and Mike about the second trial and why it was a necessity in Kate's case. Nor did Kate know that Mike was taking Tom's in the trial. Dr Scott was positive that the trial would take less than a day to know if it worked or not and if Mike was not vaccinated during the trial didn't contract the virus from Kate then it proved the vaccine was one: a success and two: Kate wouldn't become a carrier for the virus. If worst case scenario happened and Kate became a carrier then the vaccine would definitely be put to the test as a 'cure'. He for one couldn't sit on the outside for this trial and he wasn't going to get into an argument with Kate about it either which was why she didn't tell her he would be with her inside the tent.

"I highly doubt it will be your last meal" He told her as he turned over a page to read the next.

"So that's a yes to pancakes?" Kate asked in a hopeful tone.

"No, I just disagreed with you having your last meal not your choice" Mike told her as he finished signing off on the report in his hand and placed it on the 'read' pile. He wanted to make sure he had everything squared away before tonight.

"So that's a no to the pancakes as well or to disagreeing to it being my last meal?" Kate asked confused. Mike chuckled and shook his head as he picked up yet another report.

"I'm trying to concentrate here" he told her.

"Everything is running smoothly though Garnett wrote a lengthy Christmas list of things she wants for engineering. Seriously you can sign them all and not bother with all the heavy reading" Kate said dismissively.

"Have you been reading my reports?" Mike asked her incredulously.

"I didn't realise they were a secret and I read them all in like 40 minutes. You've been at it for over an hour" Kate informed him. Mike closed the file he had been reading and gave her serious look.

"I'm sure the Captain would prefer you not to read them and I'd be able to finish my work faster if you weren't distracting me" Mike told her.

"I'm just sitting here, fully clothed and talking. Anyway, I thought one of your many talents was the ability to 'multitask'." Kate said mockingly, an innocent smile spread across her lips.

"It is, I'm multi-tasking right now" He told her as he opened the report he had been reading and signed it acknowledging he had read it. He then pulled out another report and got started through the process again.

"Would you like me to leave?" Kate asked in a low voice, she lifted her sling and balled it up before haphazardly throwing it onto the lounge. Obviously deciding she didn't need though he would disagree with her but ultimately said nothing about it.

"No, you're fine but just give up the dreams of getting pancakes" Mike told her. Kate made a face of displeasure which to Mike was adorable. "The menus are organised a week in advance according to our food supplies." Mike informed her as he continued his slow progress through the paperwork.

"Can't you make an exception on all your rules? because there's a 40% chance I could become a carrier which means a 40% chance or killing anyone in the future by breathing the same air. So, if pancakes aren't option maybe we could-"

"You got to kidding me." Mike said giving up on his paper work altogether as he was not going to finish it with sex on the brain. He sat back in his chair to look at her. He was more amused than annoyed as she jumped from trying to fill her stomach with food to angling for sex. If anything it told him she was getting better.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Kate asked, if he were honest it was a little hard to tell.

"I'm not sure and even if you aren't but I'm not having sex with you because a cliché reason of it might be your last lay. As flattered as I feel by the invitation" he told her as he packed up his paperwork clearing his desk space. He could have told he was going to be going into quarantine with her but decided it would only aid her argument for why they should be having sex.

"Ship of 200 people and I choose you, if our roles were reversed; I would not only be flattered but completely naked and at the ready for you. We already made it to second base, why not make it a home run for old time sake" Kate teased him.

"I think it was more third base than second and the vaccine will work, you won't become a carrier. So stop being overdramatic" he told her as he leaned forward again and packed up his desk clearing it for the time being. Anything that was leftover would have to wait until later.

"If I was going to be overdramatic I would have cried and begged for you to take me or just take off all of my clothes and pounce on you" Kate told him.

"But you respect me too much to do that?" he asked wryly as Kate had quickly moved to the clear space on the corner of his desk and sat down.

"Exactly even though we've already broken your fraternisation rules and doesn't third base involve a lot more nudity from both parties?"Kate asked him with an innocent manner but he could tell her thoughts were anything but.

"I told the Captain I'd keep my pants on and I can't believe I'm come second after pancakes" He told her. Kate gave him a brilliant smile as he realised the sexual innuendo of his comment.

"You should always come second it's more polite that way" Kate said tongue in cheek and Mike shook his head at the cheap shot. "and I have to get my pleasures elsewhere since you gave the Captain your word to not play-"

"It's expected that I adhere to-"

"I know the rules and regs. Those I understand but I didn't think the Captain would sink so low to making you take a vow of abstinence just so he could trust you. Does he think I have magical lady parts or something?" Kate asked him.

"I don't know" Mike said trying desperately to keep a straight face as Kate was taking Tom's insecurities a little too personally.

"Maybe there are hypnosis spinning discs. It's been a while since I looked down there myself. That being so you should probably just not look directly into my-"Kate stopped as she realised that Mike was trying not to laugh at her "I'm serious, you could fall into a trance and do my evil biddings" She told him in a mocking tone.

"I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you want" Mike told her. "And even though I am very interested in breaking my word. I still don't have any protection" he added, Kate looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Why not?" She asked.

"I never get laid when I'm on the ship, so what's the point?" he asked her in casual dismissal as it was true. He didn't see the need of carrying prophylactics on his person considering the only person he was supposed to have sex with was his wife and she was never on his ship. He also never envisioned a time when Kate would be back in his life like this that such a need would arise. Now that she was, well he knew there was no way he'd be visiting medical as that would raise a red flag to Tom.

"You should always carry one with you in case of emergencies like now when your resolve is weakening and you're about 5 seconds away from making me a real woman" Kate told him, Mike smiled as he and Kate had very different definitions of 'emergency'.

"This is not an emergency and what's your excuse? It takes two to tango why is on me to keep us both protected?" Mike argued because he felt like being contrary. He just like how frustrated she was with him yet amused at the same time.

"I haven't carried prophylactics on me since I left the Army" Kate told him, Mike frowned as wondered why she would be carry them while on duty.

"You carried condoms with you while on duty?" he asked her.

"All the time, one in my survival kit and one taped to my water bottle" Kate told him in a smug manner.

"Seriously?" he asked her as he couldn't see why she would need them unless she was getting laid more than he knew about and then that would say a lot about Australian Military and their possible lack of discipline. His assumptions about her 'assumed' sexual adventures must have been written on his face as she kicked his arm.

"It's not for sex, you perv. It has other uses like for carrying water, starting a fire, use it as the rubber band in a sling shot, it can be used as surgical glove in a medical emergency. Do I have to keep listing its other uses?" Kate asked him in a slightly haughty manner.

"No, I'm impressed" He said as he had never really put much thought into the other uses for a condom besides the obvious.

"So you should be, while you were playing with your ship. I learned how to survive out there MacGyver style in wilds of Australia. Want to know what I can do with my tampon?" Kate asked with a smile.

"No" He said shaking his head as he didn't need nor want to be educated.

"How about my tongue?" Kate asked in salacious manner.

"It's one thing to fool around in the early hours of the morning when majority of the crew is asleep but right now; in the middle of the day? I don't think so" he told her.

"I can be quiet" Kate assured him.

"No you can't" Mike informed her, last thing he needed or wanted was someone overhearing the sexy noises Kate made or interrupting them no matter how tempted he was right now to make her writhe with pleasure.

"I was quiet the other day" Kate argued, Mike rose from his chair and moved towards her. His desk wasn't exactly the ideal height but he figured he was just going to tease her a little. She licked her lips in anticipation and moved a little more to the centre of the desk and opened her legs in an enticing invitation. He moved into the open space and slid his hands over her thighs. He kind of wished she wasn't wearing any clothes but if she had been naked then he wouldn't finished any paperwork.

"Ok, so say I cave in and we start out slow-" Mike started to say but Kate cut him off.

"I want fast and hard, save slow for later when we have more time" Kate said, Mike laughed and shook his head at her enthusiasm. Mike moved his hands up and over her hips and pulled her closer to him so he had more access to let his hands roam without having to bend over so much. He leaned his face in close and when Kate tried to kiss him he pulled back. Teasing her.

"Ok, we start with a hard and fast. My lips on yours, hands groping and grasping at each other" Mike whispered against her lips, he moved his hands in a slow motion up and around her body slowly warming and teasing her. He could see Kate's brain was already fast forwarding ahead to the main event. Her breath quickened and her legs wrapped around his hips pulling him closer as he moved his lips away from her mouth and gently grazed them across her jawline as he continued "I move my lips across your jaw and down to that sweet spot on your neck just below your neck. You become hot and needy as you always do and pull me closer. Begging me to hurry up as you tug my belt out of it's loops..."

Kate dropped her head to the side giving him more access to her neck and bite her lip trying to remain quiet as Mike's hot breath caressed that sweet spot on her neck just below her ear. Warm pleasure flowed through her but it also riled her as she wanted more. She tried to lift her hands but Mike caught her hands in his and pushed them back down securing her hands to the desk.

"No, this is just hypothetical" he told her.

"I'd rather you skip the narration and get to the acti-" Kate stopped at the sound of a hard knock at the door. Mike stopped his progress and much to Kate's annoyance pulled back from her and released her hands.

"And that would happen" He told her in a smug manner as Kate looked a little wild eyed and confused. It took her a few seconds to realise that he had been making a very clear point as to why sex on the ship with him was near impossible. That and making her incredibly frustrated, at she wasn't the only one being left sexually unsatisfied.

"Ignore it" she told him but even she knew they couldn't ignore it as she had already released her legs from around him. Kate placed her feet on the floor and leaned against the desk with her arms folded just as Mike stepped away. She couldn't help but smile as the evidence of his arousal was more obvious than hers. Mike looked down at his pants and cleared his throat as he stuck his hands into his pockets to hide his erection.

"Eyes up, I'm not a piece of meat" he told her, Kate chuckled.

"Come in" Mike said loudly. The door swung open and unsurprisingly Tom was on the other side. The man who asked for a vow of abstinence was the one interrupting their moment of indulgence seemed rather coincidental.

"Am I interrupting something?" Tom asked as he stepped into the room.

"Nope, Commander Slattery was just being an asshole" Kate said with a closed lip smile as she was definitely feeling rather moody about Mike getting her all hot and bothered to leave her unsatisfied. Of course she knew he didn't have a choice. He had a duty to the ship which came first and well before satisfying her needs.

"It's my natural state of being" Mike told her in a casual manner like it wasn't something new.

"I've noticed" Kate mumbled. Tom looked between the two, the sexual tension that was palpable in the air. Part of him wondered if they knew how obvious it was that they weren't having sex and all their baiting and insulting looked and sounded like verbal foreplay. If they were off the ship he'd tell them to go away and work it out. That and make sure not to share any of the details with him as he didn't want to know.

"Ok, well I wanted a private word with my XO" Tom said deciding it was best to ignore Mike and Kate's issues and delve into what he wanted to talk about. He looked to Kate. "Alone" he prompted.

"Of course, I've got to go do other stuff elsewhere" Kate said awkwardly as she left the room. Mike and Tom frowned at her weirdness for a moment before Tom pulled the door close and turned to Mike.

"What has got her in a weird mood?" Tom asked as soon as the words left his mouth he realised that he didn't want to know the answer.

"Kate wanted to have sex with me before she went into quarantine" Mike told him in such a serious tone that Tom wasn't sure if the man was being serious or just pulling his leg.

"Seriously, what did she want?" Tom asked him.

"I am being serious. Apparently I'm the one she picked out of all of the crew. So what did you want to talk to me about?" Mike asked him.

* * *

"Red" Tex called out. Kate paused in her walk to the wardroom and turned around to see Tex come her way.

"Tex" she said in greeting though she really didn't want to talk to him. She couldn't help but think he wanted to talk about Jack and mortality, life bullshit which she was not interested in. Frankly, she didn't want to talk about Jack given how she felt their whole relationship was a farce. The thorough background check, having her in a gene therapy trial to make her 'better' than what she was but not telling her. The fact that she had thought they were happy when now all she could remember was how he'd always make sure she was dressed appropriately for every social event. That she had to adhere to a strict diet and exercise regime because it benefited them both to stay healthy.

She felt duped and worse felt like she had been a prop and maybe she was misreading it all but after everything she read in the data packet. Sure Jack could've been a good guy but right now she couldn't see it and she didn't want Tex to know about any of it or tarnish the memory of his best friend with what she knew. One of them deserved to believe the best of Jack and retain happier memories.

"You been avoiding me" Tex told her.

"You only got out of quarantine 12 hours ago and I've been busy" Kate told him as she continued to move towards the wardroom.

"Heard you and the Captain haven't been seeing eye to eye on a lot of things" Tex said to her.

"I'm abrasive and the Captain tends to like things his own way" Kate said with a shrug.

"He's a bit like Jack in that way" Tex commented.

"Mmm" Kate murmured in displeasure as they reached the room just in time as an officer was leaving. Kate stepped into the room and headed for the tea station as Tex followed her after he closed the door. She noted that the room was thankfully empty bar the crew in the galley kitchen but there was so much noise that she doubted they would hear any conversation she and Tex would be having.

"So I heard you're going to be one of the first to be vaccinated with the new vaccine" Tex said, Kate turned around to look at him as she thought that information was confidential. Or so she had been promised.

"And how did you hear about that?" Kate asked him.

"Doctor Tophet told me" Tex said. Kate made a mental note to make sure to talk to Tophet and make sure he kept his mouth shut.

"What else did he tell you?" Kate asked him.

"Nothing, just that he thinks the vaccine needs more testing and is grateful you'll be in quarantine for 48 hours" Tex said in a light tone like he had a feeling he had touched on a subject he shouldn't have mentioned.

"Gee, didn't you two have a lovely conversation about something that is none of your business" Kate said sarcastically as she poured herself a cup of tea using her left hand. She had forgotten to take her sling with her after Tom's arrival but then her brain was still trying to switch back on from Mike's distraction.

"Yeah, well- hey shouldn't you be wearing a sling?" Tex asked her changing the conversation as he obviously didn't have a reasonable excuse to use.

"My arm is fine, not healed but I can't see the point in hurting my neck for the sake of a few bruises" Kate told him in a clipped tone as she placed her tea on the table and then went to make herself some toast as a snack.

"You alright?" Tex asked her. Kate shot him a droll look as it was a bit late to asking the question and frankly she didn't think he'd appreciate her honesty if she gave it to him.

"I'm fine, I just don't like getting needles" Kate said making up an excuse as to why she would have clipped tones that didn't have the real excuses like 'Mike left me sexually frustrated because of the Captain' or 'I despise how you manage to get people to just talk to you about me in regards to stuff that should be private'.

"Really?" he asked quite surprised at her lie. The toast popped up ready to be buttered, so Kate went over and pulled the toasted slice out of the toaster and tossed it onto a plate.

"Yeah, so how are you feeling?" she asked turning the question to him as she looked for something to spread on it.

"Better, here let me to that for you" Tex said, he didn't even wait for her to accept his help before he found margarine satchel and spread it on her toast.

"Figured you'd still be resting and don't you dare spread that marmite crap on my toast or the marmalade either" Kate said to him. She made a disgusted face at the mere thought of eating those condiments.

"Honey?" Tex offered.

"No, there has to be some kind of berry jam or last ditch effort cinnamon and sugar" Kate told him.

"Strawberry jelly?" Tex said lifting the jar to show her, Kate made a face of pure disgust.

"Jelly isn't jam" Kate informed him.

"Ah-" Tex started to argue but she cut him off.

"No, don't argue with me on this. Jelly is like the sugar that glanced at the fruit and gave it the one finger salute. Jam is where sugar and the fruit got down and dirty; sharing and loving every hot moment together until they made a beautiful sticky substance" Kate told him.

"That's a little graphic for breakfast condiments" Tex told her as he doused the bread unhealthy amount of sugar and cinnamon before he cut it in half and handed the plate to her.

"Thank you" Kate said taking the plate and moving to the table. She sat down with a sigh as she really loved how comfortable the chairs were as it cushioned softly against her skin. "So what are you doing out of bed?" she asked him.

"I didn't want to miss out on coffee and the gossip? I think not" Tex told her, Kate lifted the toast and tapped the excess sugar and cinnamon of it. She didn't need it all over her last clean shirt. "Speaking of tell me something, you and the Commander" Tex drawled. He had taken a seat to her right side and was leaning towards her like they were having a private conversation he didn't want anyone to hear.

"Commander?" Kate prompted wondering if it was safe to take a bite before Tex laid whatever revelation he had for her this time. She really didn't want to choke on her food.

"Slattery" Tex stated. Kate gave him an odd look as she wondered why he acting so weird.

"Mmm you going to finish the sentence or you trying to wait for me to clue in? because the latter could take a really long time given I have no clue what you're trying to infer" Kate told him, the toast was poised at her lips as she waited for him to make her day worse.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Tex asked her.

"Yes, definitely" Kate said seeing no point in lying completely to Tex. She took a bite of her toast and smiled as she savoured the flavours. She also knew if she acted defensively or asked 'why?'. If she had he would definitely read way too much into her and Mike. The last thing she needed was Tex to get all 'big brotherly' with her and give her unsolicited advice.

"Seriously?" he asked shocked at her confession.

"Yeah" Kate said purposefully acting like it wasn't a big deal. Tex leaned closer to her and gave her a look that said he was deeply disappointed in her.

"He's married" Tex told her in a low voice. She felt the judgement radiate off him like he couldn't believe she would be a home wrecker and go after a married man. Something that she found a little hypocritical given his less than stellar past with romantic entanglements.

"No shit Sherlock" Kate told him with a chuckle.

"Have you no shame? The man has kids" Tex told her, Kate pursed her lips as she didn't appreciate the attitude or the second degree she felt she was going to get when he had no business telling her how to live her life.

"I don't see why my having to talk about Lassiter industries and the information packet with him is something to be ashamed of" Kate told him, the half truth as she was sharing what she learned in the information packet. And now, Kate knew she could basically kiss her friendship with Tex goodbye when he finally figured out that she and Mike were actually an item with a history.

"So it's all business?" Tex asked her in all seriousness.

"Of course, it is. Do you just imagine me having sex with every able body on this ship?" Kate asked him in an annoyed tone.

"No, I ruled out all anyone you'd find annoying and too young as I know you like older more experienced lovers" Tex told her.

"Dr Scott on that list?" Kate asked in a mocking manner.

"No, because I don't like competition" Tex told her.

"I guess it would be pretty difficult competing with me. I already have the advantage given I share quarters with her and earlier she liked the idea of spooning with me" Kate teased.

"Yeah well you'll have to get in line after the Captain"

"Huh?" Kate asked blankly, she thought it best to play stupid but she already knew there was something cooking between Rachel and Tom. She just thought she was the only one who knew but apparently she wasn't given Tex's look of disappointment.

"What you don't know about the kiss?" Tex asked her.

"Apparently not" Kate said. _But that is interesting.._.Kate thought to herself as she ate another bite of her toast.

"The man's married" Tex said in a tone that said he was shocked that Rachel didn't know the Captain was married.

"Really? I had no idea" Kate replied in shocked tone before she gave him a mocking smile. "Maybe she's not into beard burn" Kate offered, knowing it wouldn't amuse Tex and she was right as he gave her a glower look as she picked up another piece of toast.


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

* * *

Later that evening after dinner and a quick shower,

Kate sat on a stool inside the quarantine tent. She wished she had skipped dinner as it was now sitting in her gut like a brick, her leg shook nervously as she pretty sure right now was one of those sit and wait situations. She hated sitting and waiting as she preferred to be a woman of action. She also didn't like the idea that the vaccine/cure would make her a carrier. One of her deepest fears was that she'd be turned into a carrier and never be able to be with Mike or be able to help him find his kids or inadvertently kill someone because of her messed up genetics. All of it was bad either way and being inside the tent was making her feel trapped and a little claustrophobic as it wasn't as big as she thought it would be.

"Just relax" Rachel said as she came over to Kate with a tray in her hand. It was easy for Rachel to say that given she wasn't going to be injected with a killer virus or had messed up genetics. She also had the charm of being fully dressed in a HAZMAT suit.

"Where is everyone?" Kate asked as she would have thought Tom would be in here early making himself comfy on one of the two cots and Mike on the outside looking in but it was just Rachel and Kate. She rolled the sleeve of her left arm up and Rachel wiped a small area with an alcohol swab to clean it before she reached for the syringe.

"Quincy and Doctor Rios are double checking the results of the first trial together as for the Captain and Commander. I'm sure he and the Commander will be along shortly. Now you're going to feel a pinch" Rachel told her, as she stuck the needle into Kate and injected her with the vaccine/cure.

"So just you and me" Kate said as they both knew it was a game of wait and see in regards to her trial.

"For the moment until the men arrive" Rachel told her as she cleaned up the minuscule mess she had made. Kate figured she was just trying to look busy as she moved around the small space. Kate wondered how the woman worked in such a tiny space and manage to be productive.

"So before they arrive can we talk about my friend?" Kate asked referring to Anna. It had been sitting in her mind ever since she saw the file and now seemed like a good time as any to ask.

"I've looked over the file and I believe she's naturally immune to virus" Rachel told her as she pulled a stool over and sat down next to Kate.

"Seriously?" Kate asked, feeling a bubble of hope bloom within her. At least someone else would be left unscathed by Lassiter Industries. A genuine smile played on her lips as she couldn't believe she knew someone who would be naturally immune. It also meant that maybe. Just maybe Anna was still alive out there and that made Kate happy because it meant she had at least one friend off the ship. Better yet, wherever Anna was she'd be networking which meant maybe finding Mike's family wouldn't be as hard as Kate assumed it would be. Anna would be able to help her dig up leads as Kate really didn't believe given the current world they lived in that his family would stay in one spot and wait.

"Yes, she has the exact same genetic mutation that Bertrise possesses." Rachel explained, she was still in awe that there were two people who shared the same genetic mutation that made them both immune to one of the deadliest viruses in the world. Not only that but they were two individuals of very different backgrounds and lifestyles yet they had a similar medical history. Whilst Bertrise had no autoimmune diseases, she did have all the indicators of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It wasn't something that could be easily diagnosed due to it's ambiguous symptoms and there was not one test that proved it's existence but many people suffered from it.

"Bertrise has Coeliacs?" Kate asked out of curiosity, Rachel shook her head. She couldn't give Bertrise's medical information out except what she had shared about the gene mutation.

"No, Coeliac disease is hereditary with it's own identifiable genes not a mutation. The gene that I'm talking about that makes Bertrise and Anna immune is completely different" Rachel told her.

"Ok, but it means that my friend could have survived the outbreak like Bertrise" Kate said.

"Yes" Rachel told her. Kate smiled as she wished that Rachel wasn't wrapped up in plastic as she wanted to hug her. She also wanted the ship to move a little faster in the direction of Baltimore or somewhere nearby so she could look for Anna. Yes, her first goal was to be with Mike but she knew he wouldn't be let off the ship as easily as she would be and to find Mike's kids alone was out of the question. She also didn't want to go by herself even with her independent nature she preferred to not walk into an unknown situation alone without back up.

"That is amazing" Kate told her.

"It doesn't mean she is alive" Rachel told her in a tone that said not to get her hopes up but it was too late.

"But her chances have increased ten fold. Anna's too stubborn and well trained to die in a few of riots" Kate told her with a shrug as she was not going to be convinced her friend was dead.

"You can't know-" Rachel started but her words were cut off when Mike came into the isolation tent. "Commander" she said in greeting.

"Sorry I'm late, had to tie up a few loose ends" Mike said to them, he looked to Kate who's expression was frozen in shock but it was quickly dissolving into anger as she took in the fact that he wasn't wearing a HAZMAT suit. She blinked a few times and shook her head.

"No,no" Kate said shaking her head as it was acceptable for him to be there and she refused to have anything to do with it.

"Too late, I'm already inside" Mike told her.

"Captain Chandler is supposed to be in here with me not you!" Kate said panicking slightly as worst case scenario of the situation ran through her brain and what it would mean.

"Well I'm here and he's not" Mike replied with a casual shrug. She pressed her lips together as she really wanted to smack some sense into him.

"No, I want the Captain as I'm totally fine with him keeling over. I had it all rationalised in my head" She told him, Mike chuckled as he could just imagine her weighing her options "Hell, I'd suffer through Grodin if it gave me a chance of killing but not you" Kate added as she hadn't wanted him to be in the trial. She wanted him safe on the outside looking in. The happy feeling she had about Anna was now completely gone and replaced with her own fear of Mike dying.

"I didn't realise there was a ranking system" Mike quipped he looked to Rachel "What did I miss?" he asked her ceasing his conversation with Kate as he was already prepared for anger, what he hadn't expected was to see fear in her expression. She had seemed so calm and ready to do the trial joking about wanting pancakes and having sex that he had not realised she scared. Now she was worried, scared, hurt and angry.

"Commander Slattery, I've already administered the vaccine and we should know in a few hours if-" Rachel started but Kate cut her off.

"I turn into a zombie and eat your face off" Kate told Mike in a matter of fact tone. For some reason her joke fell flat as she looked at him like she half expected him to start bleeding from the eyeballs.

"I doubt that will happen" Mike told, he wished he had told her beforehand now as they could have discussed it in private. He could have assuaged her fears as he knew they had no grounding in reality just like her zombie joke.

"You've been at sea for over 6 months, you could accidentally misinterpret my attack as a form of affection and then half your face will be gone before you clue in that I'm a flesh eating zombie" Kate informed him. Mike gave Kate a sardonic smile as he looked to Rachel who wore the same exasperated facial expression that said 'I'm surrounded by idiots'.

"Okay" Mike said as he really had no better response. He then turned to Rachel "So how long will we be in here and what side effects should we be on the look out for?" he asked.

"24 hours as you already know and as for side effects just think of it as a flu shot" Rachel cringed at the comparison as it was a regiment 'flu shots' that got Kate into her current mess. "Kate could experience headaches, nausea, fatigue, fever, aches and pains. Just let me or whoever is in here observing so we can make a note of it and treat each symptom as they come." Rachel added but Kate didn't seem to be paying attention as she had turned her back to them.

"But I should be fine?" Mike asked Rachel, looking at Kate's back wishing she would face them.

"Yes, when you start to feel ill that we know the vaccine has failed for Kate and something is wrong and we'll adjust the protocols of the trial" Rachel told him. It wasn't reassuring in any manner but Mike knew the risks going in and was prepared for the consequences.

"Which means I'm a carrier and you're dead" Kate said turning back to face them.

"I got that" Mike told Kate, he knew she was struggling to maintain some form of civility.

"But we will administer the vaccine to you; Commander and you will be cured of the virus before it has any detrimental effect to your overall health" Rachel told him.

"Yeah, so why are you playing sacrificial lamb? I thought the Captain would be in on this trial" Kate said looking at Mike.

"The plan changed" Mike told Kate.

* * *

Hours later, Kate sat cross legged on the floor leaning her back uncomfortably against the cot. She couldn't sleep and she was too restless to lie in bed and not worry about Mike who had been sleeping until he woke to find her watching him. She couldn't sleep because if she did then she might miss the early symptoms of the virus. She knew if he fell ill the faster they diagnosed it the quicker it would resolved as she didn't want to think about Mike dying. It was not an option, so she watched him and her gut churned with anxiety and concern for Mike. She didn't care if she died but she didn't want to outlive Mike.

"You shouldn't sit on the floor. You're liable to catch a cold" Mike told her. Kate gave a huff of laughter as the only thing she was getting from sitting on the floor was a cold and slightly numb backside.

"Catching a cold is the least of my concerns" Kate assured him. Mike turned onto his side and propped his head up on his elbow so he was looking down at her.

"Still angry with me?" He asked in a low voice. He did so because he didn't want Tophet to overhear their conversation. Given the HAZMAT suit he wore and that he was working at the far end of the lab, Mike was sure Tophet wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Yep" Kate answered with a nod as she straightened her back and looked at him showing her anger at him for not talking to her about changing places with Tom and her pain of knowing how high the stakes were.

"Going talk about it?" Mike asked, Kate shook her head as she couldn't argue with him as she would cry and she really didn't want to cry.

"Nah, thought I'd let it stew until we're completely alone" Kate told him.

"That won't happen for a while" Mike remarked. He could see her brain was chewing on the matter and the longer it went unspoken the more she would blow everything out of perspective.

"24 hours" Kate said despondently as her throat ached from just saying the words.

"So you want me die with my last thoughts of you being angry?" He asked jokingly, he watched as Kate's expression became stricken. _Fuck... _he thought as he meant it as a joke but she was probably thinking he was going to die. Her hands twisted in her lap as she looked anywhere but at him.

"Why would you do this?" she asked him in a low voice.

"because I wanted to" he answered honestly.

"Why didn't you talk to me first? I assume this wasn't some spur of the moment thing"

"No, it wasn't and I didn't want to argue about it because at the end of the day it was my decision" Mike told her, Kate's face snapped up to look at him.

"Which affects me" she gestured to herself "Did you think at all about how I would feel if you died? The guilt of knowing that I killed you because of my fucked up genes?" Kate asked in a hushed tone, and there she revealed the crux of what was upsetting her.

"The trial will be a success" Mike assured her, he didn't want to think it wouldn't. He couldn't to think negatively.

"You can't know that for sure" Kate argued.

"And I could die from any number of ways. I let you go to the Vyerni, you think that was easy for me? How do you think the guilt of that would have sat on me if you had died?" he asked her.

"It's not the same" Kate argued her tone raised slightly as her tone was firm.

"It's exactly the same" He told her, his voice raising as well as he felt a little exasperated that she'd think her death would mean nothing to him and that the hours he had spent worried for her life meant nothing.

"I-" Kate was about to argue further but was interrupted by loud thud and a crash of glass smashing on the floor followed by a few choice words that came from the far end of the lab. Kate jumped to her feet looked over to see Tophet quickly cleaning up but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Hey you alright over there?" Kate asked Tophet. She frowned as she wondered what he had broken. She moved around the cots and Mike sat up as well. They couldn't see from the mess of tables and equipment in the way what exactly had been broken.

"I'm fine, just clumsy" Tophet said as he was scurrying to clean up and waving her to stay as she was like it was nothing.

"Need a hand cleaning up?" she offered.

"No!" Tophet harshly shouted at her, Kate reared back and he must have realised how harsh he had sounded as he tempered his tone and said "I made the mess. I will clean it up. Please just get some rest" he told her in a calm manner. Kate held up her hands in surrender and moved back to retake her place on the floor.

She crossed her legs and looked to Mike, they both shared a look silently acknowledging the awkwardness of the situation and Tophet's weirdness. She wondered if Tophet had overheard them and had made a distraction to stop their argument. Either way it just made Kate feel blatantly aware of the most infuriating part of their relationship and being on the Nathan James; they had little to no privacy. She didn't mind the propriety and acting a certain manner in public but she hated the half conversations and the interrupted conversations. But it wouldn't stop her now.

"The Vyerni was my decision and after that you asked me to be with you. To be in this relationship together. My understanding was that there was no more 'my' any more. Only 'ours' as in we share the losses, we share the risks and most of all we share the decisions. We should have discussed this" Kate told him.

"If we discussed it, you would have said 'no' and it would of been a stalemate" Mike told her.

"It still should have been discussed but instead you forced your way and now here we are" Kate said gesturing to where they were.

"Do you ever stop to think how I would feel if I lost you? How hard it would be for me to stand on the outside? How tired I am of looking in from the outside watching everyone else suffer?"

"So what? this is your turn?" Kate asked him in a exasperated tone.

"Yes and it's selfish, I know that but I want to be here with you. be here for you, supporting you" He told her emphatically.

"You couldn't wait for a gun fight or something more adventurous?" she asked him, Mike dropped his head onto the mattress and gave a muffled groan of frustration. He lifted his head up and looked at her for a long moment admiring her endless source of humour.

"No, now will you get off the floor and go to bed?" he asked her.

* * *

It was the following morning,

"Check" Mike told Kate as he set his chess piece on the board in probably one of his laziest chess stratagems. His patience was running thin thanks to the lack of coffee that was supposed to come with his breakfast and the cranking headache he had from barely sleeping last night. He wanted to say it Kate's concern over his welfare that kept him up most of the night but it wasn't. In fact she had been relatively quiet since the whole trial started except their one conversation. She looked wrecked as he felt but then he knew she had spent majority of the night just watching him. He knew because he felt her eyes on him the whole entire time.

He couldn't wait for the trial to end as they'd be free to go back to his stateroom and hash it out before a long sleep in the pitch black of his sleeping space. But right now, they had to suffer and suffering he was; as he pulled his t-shirt collar away from his neck. He felt sweat bead on his brow and when he flexed his shoulders a bead slithered sickly down his back. He didn't know how a plastic tent with air conditioning could be so uncomfortably warm or how Rachel put up with the stifling heat in her HAZMAT suit and looked comfortable while he was sweating. Hell, even Kate looked cool as a cucumber. He was half tempted to speak up but was afraid that Kate was right about her being a carrier. He didn't want to think he was sick, so he told himself it was just his nerves.

"What?" Kate said, she looked down at the chess board in front of her and found that Mike had won yet another game of chess. It was more annoying than surprising as Kate didn't understand the game or have the patience for it given they were only 10 hours into the trial. Sure Mike seemed in good health but he'd been unusually quiet since waking up. It also probably didn't help that he hadn't had his morning coffee as seemed to be in a bit of a mood, she only knew because his jaw was twitching. It was a usual sign that he was low patience which was why she had remained quiet as she knew they were going to argue and she wasn't going to have a fight with him in the Hangar bay with an audience of Dr Scott, Tom and Tophet all dressed in HAZMAT behind them.

The three had been talking with one another about the quantity of the vaccine they would be able to synthesise and how long it would take. Tom had mentioned that the ship had started moving towards Fort Detricks and that in a few days they'd be passing Norfolk. Kate had a feeling Mike was a little pissed off that he wasn't included in the meeting given he was the XO and was supposed to be a part of every meeting but given he was in the trial; he was technically off duty.

Kate on the other hand was glad to be excluded as she was exhausted. She gotten no sleep last night as she had been stewing on Mike purposefully putting himself in the trial and trying to figure out why he would do it. She was sure he thought it would have been great to spend some time together but she hadn't wanted him there in danger. Especially in danger of her killing him with a super virus and now she was exhausted and completely paranoid that he was going to die. It didn't help that she was watching his every move and questioning whether it was normal. Did he normally sweat so much? Was he always so moody without a morning coffee? Granted he was no charmer with the lack of sleep. Then there was the rubbing of his forehead while they played chess. Was he concentrating or was it a headache?. She didn't know as she wasn't game to ask and she truly wanted to think he was fine and that maybe she wasn't as observant as she thought she was than it be worse.

"best out of 5?" Mike asked her, Kate shook her head as she knew he was just using the game as a distraction or so she hoped as she could barely concentrate on the game given her current state.

"No, my ego can only take so much punishment" Kate told him as she laid down in her cot and pulled her legs up to give her back a rest. Mike's lips quirked in a smile as he looked to his water bottle and decided to refill it. It was also give a break from Kate's not so subtle attempts to checking to make sure he was sick. Sure she stop feeling him for his temperature but she looking at him like she trying to analyse him and frankly it was a little unnerving.

"You want more water?" he asked her offering to fill hers at the same time. He held out his hand for her bottle, Kate looked up at him and gave nod.

"Cheers" Kate said as she held up her nearly empty bottle of water. Mike took the bottle she held out to him and rose his feet. His head panged with pain at sudden movement and his vision blurred as a wave of dizziness hit him.

"You alright?" Kate asked him, frowning as Mike had only gotten to his feet to refill their water bottles only to drop a couple shades of colour. His eyes glazed over slightly as he seemed to be trying to orient himself. She knew something was wrong.

"I'm fine" he told her as he wavered on his feet as stars and speckles crossed his vision. Kate jumped to her feet and cupped his right elbow to help ground him. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and under his chin.

"you feel warm to me" Kate commented to him. "Maybe you sit down and I get the water" Kate suggested, Mike placed his right hand on her forearm and shook his head.

"I-" he started to say but he didn't finish the sentence as everything went black.

"Oh whoa" Kate said as Mike lurched forward into her knocking their chess game and the stool it had been sitting on to the floor. Pieces scattered all over the floor. "A little help in here?!" Kate called out as Mike sagged against her and become dead weight on her. Kate gritted her teeth as she had to use all of her strength to keep him upright and she was failing miserably as they were both slowly sinking the floor. She tried to adjust her footing and stepped right onto a sharp chess piece. She cursed in pain and fought her natural reflex to drop Mike and look at her foot but luckily for her the weight was lifted off her slightly.

Kate gave a sigh of relief as Tophet and Tom lifted Mike's weight up and off her. She winced as she inspected her injured foot off floor and pulled the white knight piece that had dug itself from her foot. She tossed the chess piece on her cot and helped lift Mike's legs onto his cot before she quickly cleaned up the chess pieces. Tophet leaned over Mike's prone form trying to get him to wake.

"What happened?" Rachel asked Kate as she moved to kneel beside Mike's side and inspect him.

"He was going to get water and then passed out. He's got the virus doesn't he?" Kate asked stepping away from Mike's cot as bubble of panic rose within her to the point she could barely breathe. "I'm a carrier" Kate said in disbelief as her mind raced to the logical end that he would die and it would be all her fault. She loved him and now she had killed him, it wasn't fair.

"We don't know that" Rachel said to Kate while she assessed Mike. She looked to Tom "Please calm her" she implored him as Kate was looked on their work in complete distress. Tom looked over to Kate and wished he hadn't because before he could have ignored her relationship with Mike as a 'fling' from the past. Old memories and emotions surfacing but nothing else.

Yet right now, he looked at Kate and saw it. She loved his best friend in the present, the emotions displayed so vibrantly on her face as was her fear, her guilt of losing him. Tears slid down her face as she speared her hands through her hair and looked on eyes wide. All his assumptions were blown out of the water, some were made correct while others were disabused.

"Come on. Let's move out of the way" Tom said blocking her view as he moved towards her. He knew why they made loved ones stay in the waiting rooms. The environment kept them relatively docile and ignorant to what was happening but right now. Even he had a hard time remaining calm himself as he wanted Rachel to give them some answers and for Tophet to shut up about the virus mutating thanks to Kate's genetics.

"Lassiter" Tom started but Kate cut him off.

"Stop calling me that!" Kate yelled at him in complete anger, Tom reared back as he hadn't expected her to explode at him like that. She turned away from him and bent over at the hips trying to breathe. "I did this to him, it's my fault" Kate said between breaths as the tears fell from her eyes and she felt like someone was shredding her insides.

"Kate, we don't know anything" Tom told her. Kate lifted her head up and looked at him despondently.

"I won't have his death on my conscience" she told him, tears streaked down her face and Tom knew exactly what she was saying in that moment. Her language might have been generalised as if she had no partiality to Mike but he knew she was telling him that she couldn't live without Mike. Her tone was firm and her expression determined made Tom concerned.

"It won't come to that" he promised her.


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

* * *

"I'm telling you that we should inject him with the cure" Quincy told her as they were assessing Mike's health. Rachel couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Well, that wasn't true. She had a inkling that it was the virus. She'd seen the early signs of fatigue and the man had a slight fever. He had roused slightly but slipped back into an unconscious state which told her that if it was the virus then it was possibly a mutated strain thanks to Kate's genes. But she didn't want to believe it nor did she want to have to tell Kate that either as she knew it would crush the woman.

"He can't have contracted the virus" Rachel said firmly as she decided that until they ran the tests nothing was confirmed. She went to work with Quincy and organised a rally pack along with a dose of tylenol for the fever. She used the time to formulate her argument. "If he was it would have been your premonition of superbug which the cure probably wouldn't work on him" she said to Quincy. She hoped the god that Kate and Tom couldn't hear them as she didn't want them to know what she and Quncy were discussing.

"Anyway we only have one dose of the vaccine, so I'd rather run tests and be sure than treat this blindly" Rachel told him.

"It's the virus" Quincy told her.

"We can't know that. It could be exhaustion, dehydration, caffeine withdrawal. Anything" Rachel said, she'd rather grasp at straws than believe Quincy to be correct in this one case.

"but just to be on the safe side we should give him the cure now and save time given how quickly he has succumbed to the virus" Quincy said, Rachel narrowed her eyes at him feeling suspicious as to why he was pushing for them to use the cure before they had determined it was the virus.

"What did you do?" she asked him.

"What?" he asked looking slightly affronted, it was the wrong reaction and Rachel knew in that instant something was wrong.

"You're acting guilty and you're pushing me to give him the vaccine. What do you know that I don't" Rachel told him, Quincy licked his lips and looked guilty as he leaned in close or as close as he could given the suits and said.

"I'll admit my theories about Lassiter were outlandish but we could have accidentally exposed him to the virus when he came in." Quincy said. Rachel looked over her shoulder to the corner where Kate and Tom sat talking. For once she was glad the HAZMAT suits weren't linked by radio as Tom would have flipped his lid over what they were discussing.

"All the virus samples are locked away in the transport case. I haven't opened it since before we prepped for Kate's injections and even then we were carefully prepped to limit the exposure. The Commander arrived after it was administered which was well outside of the incubation period, if he had been infect at entry he would have been sick hours ago not just showing symptoms" Rachel said to him.

"Ok by 'we could have accidentally exposed him.' Well I meant that I may have accidentally exposed them both to the virus. The Egyptian strain to be precise" Quincy confessed.

"What?" Rachel said in disbelief.

"It was an accident. I was sleep deprived and reorganising the lab space for something to do when I accidentally knocked over the case. When I opened it to check everything was in place a vial had obviously come loose and it drop-" Quincy didn't get to finish his sentence before Rachel cut him off. She already knew where his recount of events was going. He had smashed a vial of the virus in the lab and not told anyone. He'd risked all their lives on one clumsy mistake.

"What time? and why didn't you say something after it immediately happened?" Rachel demanded, angry that the man hadn't said anything to her until now when Mike had collapsed. What also annoyed her was that Quincy had ruined their trial and destroyed their only sample of the Egyptian strain.

"I wasn't thinking-" he started in a defensive manner but Rachel cut him off.

"Obviously you weren't" Rachel scoffed, shaking her head in utter disbelief as she wasn't sure what made her more angry that he stewed on the information or that he had been about to allow Kate to blame herself for infecting Mike when it was all a simple accident. It would have changed all of their protocols for the trial and been better prepared.

"I know, I'm sorry; I didn't own up to it but it was an accident and you know how the captain would react. I just got my family back-"

"Well now we are going to cover you stuff up. Get the testing kit and the vaccine. We'll make certain that he has the virus and let's hope my vaccine wasn't just a fluke for both of our sakes" Rachel told him.

* * *

Tom saw Rachel motion to him to meet her outside the tent. He looked to Kate who was leaning on her elbows with her head in hands on the table in front of her. She was staring at the stainless steel like it was going to give her answers to all of her problems. He had managed to get Kate to sit down and treat the cut on her foot only because he told her that there was nothing she could do but wait and he'd rather she stop putting blood all over the place.

She'd been incredibly compliant and unnervingly quiet since her confession for saying she couldn't live without Mike. It was a dramatic statement but he believed her.

"I'll be back" he said though he doubted that she was listening as she didn't even acknowledge his words. She just kept herself in a frozen state.

He rose from his chair and went through decontamination process before peeling off his suit and meeting Rachel outside the tent. She looked upset as she ran her hands through her hair and shook her head.

"What's going on?" Tom asked her.

"It's the virus" Rachel told him, she saw no point in lying about that but she wasn't so sure about whether she should tell him about Quincy accident in the lab.

"Lassiter became a carrier?" Tom asked her. Rachel shook her head.

"Not exactly" Rachel said, she grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him away from the tent as far as they could before she spoke in a low voice "I-"

"Don't lie to me" He cautioned her as he could see her mind churning a million miles an hour. She also had a tell of looking away and squinting her eyes before she told a lie and judging by her eye twitch it would have been a real whopper of a lie. She gave a sigh and winced.

"Quincy accidentally broke a vial containing the Egyptian strain of the virus" Rachel told him. Tom was floored by the confession and the fact that she had told him the truth from the start.

"Accidentally" Tom repeated the word hating how he felt suspicious of it being an 'accident'.

"Yes, we've all be working hard and not getting enough sleep" Rachel started but Tom cut her off.

"Don't make excuses for him" Tom warned her in a patronising tone or that was how Rachel interpreted as she folded her arms and looked at him coldly. She didn't appreciate him talking to her like she was a misbehaving child but she also knew that he was running low on sleep and patience. She knew his best friend was currently ill when he was supposed to be fine and Tom had already had the brunt of Kate's emotional storm.

"Look, I'm as angry as you are but it was an accident and now we have to focus on damage control" Rachel said in a diplomatic tone.

"Which is?" Tom asked her.

"We've administered the vaccine to the Commander and we'll monitored his condition. I want you to be aware that he will get worse before he gets better"

"Alright, what about Lassiter?"

"She should be fine physically but we will run blood tests and make certain of that. Emotionally is a whole other issue" Rachel answered, it pained her to see how hard Kate was taking Mike's ill health. She knew it wasn't for a lack of faith in her abilities but just pure fear of losing someone she so obviously loved. Rachel knew Kate's relationship with Mike was complicated but now Rachel was seeing the reality of it instead of conversing about it theoretically.

Tom looked over to where Kate was, even from their distance they had a clear view of her as she had moved from the table to her cot and was now looking at Mike's prone form. Tophet was drawing blood from Mike and talking to Kate who only gave the briefest of nods.

"I'm making the hangar bay off limits to all non essential crew including Tex" Tom told Rachel.

"You want to hide our mistake" Rachel stated, she knew if the crew learnt of the mistake and saw Mike they'd lose faith in her once again. But Tom shook his head.

"No, I'm hiding their mistake" Tom gestured at Kate and Mike "because I'm not going to be shamefaced by my XO's inappropriate behaviour. We're supposed to lead by example." Tom told Rachel, the woman shook her head at him and gave that look that said he was an idiot. But he had to make it clear to Rachel that it was unacceptable for a married officer to have an affair. So they had kissed on the Vyerni and then there was that near kiss a couple of days ago but he needed her to be clear it meant nothing without saying outright. That he would never see a future with them together because it would ruin everything he worked so hard for.

"I thought you just want to ignore-"

"I'm not ignoring anything. I acknowledge what I see and know but there are rules and regulations that everyone under my command have to follow including myself" Tom told her in a firm manner as he looked her square in the face. Rachel felt her insides deaden as she had been thinking perhaps she had sensed something between them but he was now clearly telling her it wasn't so.

"I understand, now if you'll excuse me I should get back inside" Rachel told him feeling the need to hide and the only place she could do so now was in her work.

* * *

"I did this to him" Kate said as Rachel drew vial after vial of her blood for testing. She was lying on the cot looking at Mike as he wasn't getting any better. He was deathly pale with a light sheen of sweat on his skin, he looked to be in pain as he laid there unconscious.

"No, there was an unforeseen variable that I didn't take into account" Rachel told her as she packed up the pile of vials and went to insert a catheter in Kate's hand. She had already told Kate that she was going to hook her up to an IV drip just keep her hydrated. What Kate didn't know was that Rachel had mixed the bag with a low dosage of a sedative that would hopefully it would keep Kate calm and maybe help her rest. Rachel knew it was wrong to do so but it was better for Kate to rest than stress over Mike and her own recriminations.

"When I injected you with the virus, I didn't think it would become airborne when I pushed the excess air out of the syringe before at administering it. Obviously it did" Rachel lied to Kate. She knew the truth wouldn't help Kate but a lie like the one she told would help.

"Will the vaccine work for him?" Kate asked her, Kate knew Rachel was lying but didn't care to call her on it. Whatever the truth was didn't matter in the grand scheme of things to her. She looked over at her hand and winced as Rachel attached the IV drip. She hated needles especially catheter needles as they were always uncomfortably and annoying.

"Yes but it will take time for the vaccine and the Commander's immune system to work together" Rachel told her.

"I hate this" Kate said, Rachel touched her shoulder and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

"I know, but there is nothing we can do for the moment but wait. I'll run my tests and I'd like it if you could try and get some sleep" Rachel told her. Kate gave a nod but knew even as fatigue weighed heavily on her she would not sleep; not until she knew Mike was going to survive.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

"He's improving, the vaccine has worked yet again" Rachel's voice carried over the line to him. Tom felt his stomach twist with guilt and disappointment. It wasn't over the news but because of how he had treated Rachel earlier.

"Good" Tom remarked, it didn't even begin to cover how he felt as he was ecstatic. His friend was going to live but he couldn't show his true feelings as he had to remain the annoyed captain who's XO had been caught acting inappropriately. Though his evidence of that was based purely on Kate's reaction and the fact that he knew the two were sharing quarters. If he was honest with himself he was more angry at himself because he had nearly made the same slip Mike had. The slip Tom had never felt tempted until Rachel had crossed his path. He was now just going to have to ignore the temptation and the easiest way to do that was put professional distance between them.

"Qunicy and I will start synthesising more of the vaccine given it's safe to do so now Kate and the Commander are protected against the virus. Shall I call back in few hours with another update?" She asked she sounded bone tired. He fought the urge to ask her if she was alright as he reminded himself that she wasn't one of his crew and it wasn't his job to hold her hand and take care of her. He rubbed his hands over his face trying to wake up himself but the last few days of little to no sleep were finally catching up and shook his head as in to say 'no' when he realised he had to verbalise his words as Rachel wasn't in the room with him.

"No, I'll come down. Thank you" he said before he hung up the phone receiver before Rachel could say another thing. Tom didn't blame her for feeling tired as it had been a long day for both of them. The only good news was that Mike wasn't going to die and Rachel had had the foresight to sedate Kate. He would rather not deal with her at all but once again like Rachel it was a necessity to the mission. Though unlike Rachel, the reason he didn't want to deal with Kate was due to her blatant lack of respect and nerve to goad and shout at him. He was wondering what happened to the woman he'd known the first four months; the one that didn't say much and just did as ordered; stayed out of the way. He really missed that woman.

A knock sounded at the door as Tom leaned back in his chair and called for the person to come in. He was expecting Jeter to drop by and report in but much to his disappointment Tex came through the door.

"Commodore" Tex said, Tom wasn't sure if he liked the nickname or not but for now he wasn't going to quibble over it given that Tex rarely sought him out for a conversation which told him this was either going to be important or interesting. Tom hoped for his sake it was both as he really wanted to catch a few hours of sleep before checking in with Rachel.

"Tex" Tom replied, he gestured to the lounge.

"I was wondering why I can't get into to see Red. My usual charms aren't working on the guards. They tell me that you restricted the area" Tex said as he took a seat on the lounge and stretched out his frame making himself at home.

"I have" Tom said wishing he hadn't offered the man his lounge as he didn't want to talk about Kate.

"Why?" Tex asked.

"Because Dr Scott is working to produce more of the vaccine and I don't want her disturbed and Lassiter asked for privacy" Tom answered casually with half truths.

"So there's nothing wrong with the second trial?" Tex asked him.

"There is no second trial" Tom told him.

"I heard there was and it's been over 12 hours since anyone has seen Commander Slattery and Red." Tex said in that tone that said 'I'm not an idiot'.

"Where did you hear that?" Tom asked deciding it was better to know the source of the information than keep denying it.

"From Red" Tex lied and Tom knew it was a lie as Kate wouldn't have told Tex anything about the trial as that would mean revealing that she'd been a test subject in a gene therapy trial. She seemed to want to preserve her image with Tex and Tom wasn't going to step into that mess as it had nothing to do with him. So he'd oblige the man this once as there was no harm in telling him that his friend was alright.

"Right, well she's in good health and just waiting for Dr Scott to lift the quarantine. It might be another day or two at most. So until then I'd prefer you not share this information with the crew" Tom told Tex, Tex gave him a curious look.

"I thought there was an open information policy on the ship" Tex said casually but Mike knew Tex was sensing the undercurrants of the situation which weren't hard to miss given they hadn't broadcast the second trial or who was it in. So naturally rumours would start to fly given Kate and Mike presence was missing from the ship.

"There is when it's in regards to the mission" Tom told him.

"I would think Red and your XO being quarantined would come under that heading" Tex replied and he was right in a way but not this time.

"It's not relevant to the mission and as I said before Lassiter asked for privacy and I'm respecting her wishes." Tom told him.

* * *

Hours later,

When Mike woke up, he felt like he'd woken up from a four day bender in Vegas. He found his head was viciously pounding, his mouth dry. He tried to open his eyes but winced as the room was too bright for words. He let out a scratchy groan of pain.

"Mike?" he heard Kate whisper, she sounded desperately worried, he felt a shadow cross over his face and attempted to open his eyes again. This time the view was definitely better as Kate's face swam above him, her head blocking out the brunt of the bright lights."Mike?" she asked again.

"What happened?" Mike asked as he tried to sit up but failed as Kate pushed him back but even if she hadn't he would have failed in getting up his head swirled from dizziness and then pang with pain. He fell back onto the cot and looked to Kate and saw she was upset. Tears filled her eyes as bit her bottom lip to stop it from quivering. With two daughters he was well equipped to know Kate was about two seconds away from crying.

"You're an idiot, that's what happened" she told him before she called out for Rachel. Mike closed his eyes and waited for the doctor as he knew Kate wasn't going tell him. Whatever the news was, it wasn't good given Kate was in tears over it. The only saving grace he had in the moment was that Kate looked healthy even if she was somewhat of a wreck to look at.

"Commander" Rachel said, getting his attention, he opened his eyes once again and winced from the bright lighting before he turned and focused on Rachel.

"Doc" he said in greeting, the woman smiled down at him from within the safety her HAZMAT suit. She looked as wrecked as Kate with dark circles under her eyes and slightly pale skin. the only difference was that Rachel didn't look like she was about to cry, just relieved.

"How are you feeling?"she asked him.

"Like death warmed over. What happened?" Mike asked as Rachel checked his vitals and his pupil reactions with a penlight.

"You contracted the virus-"

"What?" Mike asked as his mind raced with the knowledge and he realised that Kate was crying because she had become a carrier and nearly killed him. Her worst nightmare coming to reality. He didn't blame her for being upset or calling him an idiot given their earlier talk.

"Don't worry the vaccine worked. You are cured and obviously recovering and before you ask Kate is not a carrier. It was my fault, as I didn't construct the protocols for the trial properly" Rachel told him.

"How long have I been out?" he asked her.

"Too long" Kate informed him from her cot, she ran a hand through her long red hair messing it up as she tried to keep a tight leash on her emotions but failing. Mike wished he had the strength to get up and out of the cot on his own volition. He sorely wanted to pull her into his arms and soothe her pain but right now it was a little difficult.

"Over a day" Rachel informed him garnering his attention away from Kate.

"So, how long am I going be out of action?" Mike asked.

"You're no longer contagious but I'd like to keep you under observation for another day or so to make sure you're out of danger" Rachel informed him.

"Another day?" Mike asked, he could only imagine the paperwork piling on his desk.

"Yes, I know your absence will be noted by the crew but Captain Chandler has told Master Chief if anyone asks then they will be informed that you have been sidelined by the side effects of the vaccine as you and Kate are my first test subjects for the new and improved vaccine protocol" Rachel told him.

"Don't worry, your reputation will be safe" Kate assured him, Mike turned his head and looked at her. "I'll be leaving today and doing the rounds. No one will know any better" she told him, she looked unhappy with the prospect of leaving him which made him feel somewhat better as he didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay with him but something about her tone told him that she didn't have a choice in the matter.

"I'll leave you two to talk" Rachel said sensing the tension in the room, she rose to her feet and walked away as Kate rose from her cot and sat down on the edge of his cot. Mike looked up at her and for a long moment they said nothing until Kate broke the silence.

"when you passed out, I fell apart. Tom knows that I'm emotionally attached in regards to you. He wasn't happy and he wants me out of here and your stateroom" Kate said, she had her arms crossed as her whole body language screamed how uncomfortable she was.

"Did he say that?" he asked her, part of him was inwardly cheering at her 'emotional attachment' to him as Kate was not the best at expressing emotions unless it was with actions. Her saying she was emotionally attached was like her admitting she loved him.

"No, he's said nothing but he looks like someone had shat in his favourite cereal" Kate told him in a serious manner, Mike laughed and half coughed at her phrase and her seriousness. Kate rose from the cot and went to a table by the side wall and poured him a cup of water and stuck a straw in it before returning to his side. She helped lift him up so he could take a couple of sips. "I'm being serious here. I-" Kate started but Mike cut her off as he reached out for her hand and pulled it into his.

"Kate, I feel like crap. So excuse me if I don't give a shit about us being outed or Tom being angry at me. All I care about right now is that we survived, that you're alive, healthy and still emotionally attached to me" He told her in a firm, matter of fact tone so she couldn't misread him.

"Mike, I was so scared I was going to lose you" she admitted him in a low voice, he saw the pain and the tears in her eyes. She chewed her bottom lip trying to keep herself from bursting into tears.

* * *

"So he'll survive" Tom remarked as he looked inside the tent watching Kate and Mike talk to one another. They were holding hands, an innocent gesture but Tom knew better as Kate was smiling down at his best friend with a watery smile. It would have been fine if she were Mike's wife, but she wasn't which made it a problem.

"Yes, and I've synthesised enough of the vaccine to vaccinate the crew. Do you wish me to stop or continue until I run out of supplies?" Rachel asked him as she had stepped out the tent to take a break.

"Manufacture as much of the vaccine as you can. I'd rather we have a stockpile ready to go if necessary" Tom told her. He turned to leave but was stopped when Rachel cleared her throat.

"Captain" she said, Tom stopped and looked at her. He felt conflicted being in her presence.

"Yes?" Tom asked her.

"Don't punish them" She said.

"Excuse me?" He asked as he couldn't believe she was asking him to not do his job. He couldn't just let Mike and Kate's indiscretion slip while punish Lt Green and Forster. It made him a hypocrite, something he didn't want to be even if it made Kate and Mike temporarily happy. He wasn't such an asshole that he didn't notice that the two were happier together than they were at each other's throats.

"You heard me" Rachel told him.

"I did but I don't appreciate your tone or request" Tom told her in a curt manner as it wasn't Rachel's place to interfere with how he managed his crew.

"They haven't let it affect their work or their duty to the ship and your mission-"

"Our mission" he corrected her.

"She gave herself up for the Russians for you and this mission. She's gone through the deluge of information about her dead husband's company-"

"Not willingly and she gripes at every turn" Tom grumbled as he didn't like Rachel getting into his business especially about Kate. The woman was just one big annoyance for him but Rachel didn't look ready to give it up.

"Her husband and brother in law lied to her, they allowed her basic rights as a human to be violated for their own purpose and personal profit. She was an tool to them, something to be utilised. You treat her the same way and expect her to be compliant, to be grateful to learn about how deceitful her husband was, how much he had betrayed her and somehow be grateful that she's helping you" Rachel told him.

"I don't treat her like-" Tom was going to say that he didn't treat Kate like an object or like her husband did as he didn't appreciate the parallels being drawn.

"You demand she serve a purpose, you told her to go through Lassiter Industries files to be your 'source'-"

"She tell you that?" Tom asked wondering what else Kate had complained to Rachel about.

"No, but I like everyone else that day heard you two go at it the other day. 'I'm tired of hearing 'I don't know' from your mouth.' Sound familiar?" Rachel asked him.

"I don't need to be reminded." Tom told her as his memory was not faulty.

"Either way, I think you owe her and maybe instead of punishing her; you could offer her an olive branch instead" Rachel implored him. He knew what she meant by an 'olive branch' and once again it came under the heading of him being a hypocrite if he allowed it. He looked at Rachel for a long moment as he weighed his options. He could tell her flat out 'no' but knew it would lead to them arguing what was essentially none of her business or he could placate her without saying 'yes' and worry about the fallout later.

"I'll think on it" Tom told her choosing the latter, he saw her faint yet grateful smile for his less than stellar response but then he like many knew it was better to hear a 'maybe' than a flat out 'no'. "Is there anything else?" he asked her. Rachel shook her head and Tom gave a nod acknowledging her answer before he turned and left the hangar bay.


	48. Chapter 48

_A/N: Thank you all for being patient with me this past month and the slow updates... Have you all seen the promo for season two! I can't wait! it looks amazing and it's only two months away... Now please continue to enjoy and have a Happy Chocolate Egg Eating Weekend!_

* * *

**Chapter 48**

* * *

"You're not going anywhere" Rachel told Kate in a firm tone, it was amusing given Kate could easy knock Rachel out and make her escape from the infirmary. But given that Kate was too lazy to be violent so instead she went with trying to talk her way out of the quarantine tent. She was also failing miserably at getting out of the tent.

"I'm bored" Kate told her in a low voice but it wasn't the real reason. The real reason Kate wanted out was that Tom kept looking at her with an unreadable expression. She wondered if it was about Lassiter Industries or about Mike and her relationship neither discussion did she want to have him. Given the man was suited up at the moment talking with Mike over at the cots didn't bode well. At least they were a far enough away from the men to have a semi private conversation.

"Then get some sleep" Rachel told her as she closed the file she had been reading to give Kate her full attention.

"I'm not infected or a carrier. I figured you'd let me go" Kate argued using common sense as a strategy but it wasn't working as Rachel looked unconvinced.

"Chandler is pissed. I need to put some distance between myself and Mike to get him to cool off" Kate told Rachel, hoping the woman would cut her some slack.

"He always angry about something. I highly doubt it's about you and the Commander" Rachel told her in a low voice.

"Still, this ship needs it's two commanding officers to get along. It might be easier if I'm not hanging around like a third wheel" Kate sighed as she sat down on the stool opposite Rachel at the table she was working at.

Kate was mortified by her earlier meltdown as she liked to believe she was capable of remaining calm and collected in a crisis but that illusion had been shattered. She flex her foot and winced as it pained from the injury she had gotten from stepping on a chess piece. It humorous in a macabre manner that she had stepped on the knight given her bad luck with men.

"I'm not releasing you" Rachel told her.

"Why not?" Kate asked her.

"Because you want to stay and be with the Commander. If the Captain wasn't here we wouldn't be having this discussion. You'd be resting-"

"You mean I'd be sedated" Kate stated as that seemed to be Rachel solution in getting Kate to 'rest'.

"It seems to be the only effective way to get you to sleep" Rachel replied in a dry manner that made Kate smile.

* * *

"Dr Scott is going to start synthesising the vaccine. I want to make an announcement to the crew. We're heading to Fort Detrick and on the way the crew will be vaccinated. Hopefully Fort Detrick will be intact and there will be some semblance of government or military presence to work with" Tom informed Mike.

"Here's hoping" Mike said agreeing that it would be nice to find some allies who could pick up the slack and give the Nathan James time for some downtime. He knew the ship needed some much needed TLC. Lieutenant Chung was without a doubt a miracle worker when it came to engineering but all the repairs were patch works and stop gaps. They needed to be replaced with new parts and they needed to restock their supplies not just in engineering but also in the armoury and food stores.

"You ok?" Tom asked as he could see something was eating at his friend.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. You think we'll be able to get some leave when we make port?" Mike asked.

"You want to find your kids and wife" Tom said stating the obvious but also inwardly kicking himself for mentioning Christina as Mike seemed content to move forward with Kate. The whole situation made Tom uncomfortable but that was his personal issues with the subject of adultery in general not Mike personally.

"Yes" Mike answered, Tom frowned in confusion as Mike didn't show the least bit of discomfort at the mention of Christina.

"But you and Lassiter-"

"What about us?" Mike said cutting Tom off before he could finish the sentence.

"She emotionally attached to you. It's-"

"None of your business and when it comes to crunch time she'll sacrifice whatever she has to for your mission" Mike assured him as he was too tired to discuss his infractions or Kate's emotions with Tom especially given that neither Kate's emotions or their relationship was interfering with Mike's duties on the ship.

"It's our mission" Tom said correcting him as he didn't like it how said it was 'his' mission somehow made him sound like some dictator who forced the crew to bend to his will when he felt it wasn't like that.

"Your mission. You want to save the world, I don't. I just want to save my kids and keep them safe. Something I couldn't do until now" Mike said.

"So you want to leave your post?" Tom asked.

"I'm not going AWOL now we have a cure. I'm with you until the end of this but I need to know my kids are alive and safe and for that I need some shore leave just like every other member of this crew" Mike told him, he didn't think his request was too much nor did he feel he was asking for special consideration given they had over 200 crew members in the same boat as him. He was just stating what he needed.

"How much time?" Tom asked.

"Won't know that until we get back state side and if I can get in contact with Christina" Mike told him. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Christina or how it would work out with Kate in the mix. But it would have to work out somehow though secretly he was hoping they'd get to Fort Detrick; it would be fully operational and the Army would take over making the Nathan James redundant thus they could be excused from duty for a few months.

"Not going to be an easy task" Tom murmured as he was in the same situation as Mike in that regard.

"Nothing has been easy thus far so why would that change now?" Mike asked.

"True, well. I'm going to leave so you can get some rest." Tom said rising to his feet. Mike nodded not bothering to argue with Tom as he was tired and frankly he'd rather look at Kate's face than Tom's. He watched as Tom walked away and moved over to where Kate and Rachel were speaking.

* * *

"Captain" Kate said greeting Tom as the man came up to him.

"Lassiter, how's the foot?" Tom asked, Kate looked down at her bandaged foot. She felt it was excessive given the wound but then she wasn't a doctor.

"Still attached" Kate said after a moment. She looked up and saw Tom's unamused expression.

"You get the all clear to leave?" He asked referring to her being able to leave.

"No, I'm holding her back for an extra day unless you need her" Rachel told him before Kate could get a word out. Tom looked to Rachel and gave her a curious look as he thought Kate was fine with no signs of the virus or being contagious. It wasn't like he was pushing for Kate to leave, in fact he was going to give Rachel the one thing he could and that was a reprieve on the issue of Kate and Mike's relationship.

"Anything I should know?" Tom asked Rachel as he figured Kate wouldn't be giving him any straight answers.

"Nothing to worry about. I just prefer to play on the safe side" Rachel told him.

"I'm right here" Kate said getting their attention as she didn't appreciate them talking about her like she wasn't there. In fact she was pretty sure she could have quietly walked away and they wouldn't have noticed.

"Sorry" Rachel said but the woman looked more amused than apologetic.

"It's ok" Kate said to her before she looked to Tom "but the point is I'm not getting out of here. Though you should get your CIC people to look into satellites for Fort Detrick considering Lassiter Industries doesn't have any satellites in that direction" Kate told Tom.

"I thought your company-" Tom started when Kate cut him off with the shake of her head.

"Nope, Lassiter Industries isn't as omnipotent as you love to believe" Kate drawled in a dry manner as she walked away from them. Tom watched her as she headed back to the cots obviously to lie down. He didn't wait to see as he turned his attention back to Rachel.

"She needs an attitude adjustment" Tom commented.

"She's like the younger sister you never wanted" Rachel quipped with a faint smile on her lips.

"Excuse me?" Tom said incredulously.

"You two have a sibling dynamic. You; the older brother and she; the younger sister-"

"I don't see it" Tom told her.

"You don't approve of her lifestyle choices, her past and present sexual partners even if it's your best friend and when you try to pull rank on her; she becomes a malcontent comedian. When she's not being irreverent she's trying to get you to treat her like an equal and respect her instead of seeing her as the lesser, more dependant person you believe her to be. I'm amazed I didn't see it before now" Rachel said thoughtfully but Tom didn't like her head shrinking him and Kate even if it did make some sense on certain points except for him believing Kate to be a weak person.

"I'll agree to disagree on that" Tom told her.

"That's fine but given you're not an only child and a Captain means that you're more than capable of getting along with anyone no matter how repulsive their attitude is" Rachel told him in a patronising manner.

"And what exactly is our dynamic?" He asked.

"Ours is professional just the way you want it. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to back to work" Rachel told him in what tom felt was a rather short manner. He wondered if Kate's attitude was rubbing off onto Rachel as he felt he had done what she asked. He was going to leave Kate and Mike alone even if he felt it was the wrong thing in his mind to do.

"Are we ok?" He asked her.

"Of course" Rachel said without hesitation but he couldn't help but feel maybe she answered a little too quickly. but he didn't want to get into it with her as it meant opening up a discussion he wasn't ready to have.

"Ok, I have to get back to work. Keep me posted" Tom told her.

"I will" Rachel assured him.

* * *

"Not leaving?" Mike asked as Kate stiffly lay down onto the cot opposite him. He couldn't help but feel concerned about her even if he was the one recovering from the virus. But he could tell she was in pain and not just the physical kind either as he could tell she was using her injuries, the situation in combination with humour to cover up whatever was going through her brain that was upsetting her.

What he wouldn't give for them to be alone so she could vent, so they could lie down in the same cot even with the high chance of it breaking. He already missed her being in his arms as he slept, seeing her lay in bed near naked in her tank top and knickers with that sleepy smile on her face. It was a damn better sight than being in the quarantine tent and Kate looking grumpy and all dressed up in her full length yoga pants and her loose t-shirt.

"Nope" she replied in a put out manner as she laid on her left side and looked at him.

"Damn" Mike said in a mock disappointment. Kate glowered at him as she pulled her blanket and sheet up to cover her body.

"Gee, I feel so loved" Kate replied sarcastically as she shifted around trying to get comfortable.

"I was hoping you'd leave and come back with a coffee for me" Mike told her, Kate stopped her movements and turned back to face him with an incredulous.

"Don't you have like 200 so underlings you can order to bring you coffee?" she asked him snidely, Mike smiled.

"Yeah but they wouldn't be as entertaining as you bringing me coffee" he told her.

"Oh so now I'm the entertainment?" Kate asked with a mocking lilt to her voice.

"Well normally you're mildly amusing but if you brought me coffee-" he drawled but he didn't get to finish his sentence as Kate let out a exasperated tone. He looked over to her as she rolled her eyes and shook her head in disbelief.

"You're unbelievable" Kate groaned.

"I remember you telling me that before along with me being 'phenomenal' " Mike teased as he couldn't help but poke a bit of fun with her considering she would normally do the same with him.

"I never said phenomenal" Kate argued.

"Yeah, yeah you did. Want me to remind you of when?" he asked her in a low voice. He lifted a questioning eyebrow at her waiting for her response as she looked shocked at him for being so bold. He didn't blame her given that they were in a slightly 'public' setting and he was bringing up their past sexual history.

"Seriously? You're always telling me to play fair and keep my hands to myself. But now, right here you're going to get all flirty and dirty with me?" she asked in low and accusing tone so as no one could overhear her. She even looked around before she spoke to make sure they didn't have an audience which they didn't.

"Can't help it if you bring it out of me at an inappropriate setting" Mike told her with a smug smile, his smile grew more smug as Kate pulled the sheet up and over her head like it would block him out.

"Go to sleep" Kate ordered him through the sheet. He wished they were sharing a bed as he would have pulled that sheet away from her and kissed her senselessly followed by some foreplay and where that led. But sadly it wasn't an option and even if it was an option. He wasn't into public places like the hangar bay. To him sex was reserved to being behind closed doors of the bedroom. It might make him a prude but he didn't care.

He looked over at Kate and watched the sheet move a little as Kate obviously gave a huff of air. He gave a chuckle and rested his head back down before closing his eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

A couple days later,

Mike was rejuvenated after his solid two days of resting. He'd been released from the quarantine tent that morning. After a cold decontamination shower, fresh change of BDUs followed by hot breakfast and a nice dose of caffeine running through his veins; he went to work.

After a few hours on duty, he had caught up on all the news and his paper work which left him time to do a round of the ship checking in with the department heads. He and Tom had a brief meeting and talk about their future plans in regards to the Nathan James.

The conversation was weirdly lacking the tension he had expected given what had happened in the trial and Kate's interpretation of Tom's mood. He had expected another conversation about professional conduct and not so subtly reminding him that he shouldn't have a relationship with Kate. But it didn't happen. It was all business and a few quips about surviving Dr Scott's bedside manner and the world's deadliest virus.

Though tom had told him the truth of how Mike contracted the virus. Dr Scott had said it was her fault but Tom corrected the misinformation saying it was Tophet who had had an accident breaking a vial containing one strain of the virus. Mike knew he should have been pissed off but frankly he didn't care as the vaccine had worked. He and Kate were now immune and the best part of that meant they had a cure to take with them when they would eventually find his daughters.

He couldn't wait for the moment he was excused from his duties on the ship to find his kids. But until then he would make do with his work and Kate. Kate who was acting out of sorts of late given what happened in the trial. He didn't blame her, most of the time they had to keep a tight lid on their emotions. With Kate, he knew that part of her problem was that she could easily disassociate from her emotions. It made it harder for her to process her emotions as she identified them as a separate entity to herself.

He came up to his stateroom and opened the door with a smile on his lips as he knew Kate would making a mess or looking at her wall of conspiracies like it was mocking her. But when he looked inside that moment, his smile fell slightly as she was pulling the papers from the wall; he became concerned as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Not that I mind having my walls stripped back to their original condition but why are you doing this?" Mike asked her as he moved to her side. She wore a despondent expression as she pulled down a couple of pages.

He'd left early from the Hangar bay that morning leaving Kate there as she had been fast asleep. He knew better than most that she needed it and decided to let her rest. He figured she couldn't have been out of quarantine for long as her red hair was pulled back into a wet and low ponytail. She wore a black scoop neck t-shirt and her wide leg pants as she looked up at the wall. Her feet were bare which was frankly incredibly annoying given it was an OSHA issue.

"I shouldn't be in here. It's why I'm packing it up" Kate told him.

"You going to put this somewhere else on the ship?" Mike asked her as he moved into her space. He had secured the door and knew no one would be looking for him in the next ten minutes. It only left the radio on his shoulder which he silently begged to stay quiet as he really didn't want to leave or have Kate leave his stateroom. He liked having her in his space and them sharing his stateroom was the only luxury he had left in the world. So he wasn't going to give it up so easily.

"Yeah, I figured the wardroom. You don't mind right?" Kate asked him, her tone was slightly mocking so he assumed she wasn't being serious. Something he was glad of as he really didn't want her 'wall art' displayed in the ward room.

"Actually I do, the wardroom is neutral ground" Mike told her just to cover his bases in case he read her wrong.

"Think of as a hostile takeover" Kate joked.

"I'd rather not as all this would disturb the crew" Mike informed her as he didn't want her to go anywhere.

"Well, I was joking about putting up in the wardroom. My quarters with Rachel though…"

"Why can't you just keep it up here and leave it alone?" he asked her as he picked up the pieces she had pulled down and put them back up on the wall.

"Mike" Kate started in that tone that said she wanted him to just accept the reality of the situation instead of forcing what he wanted.

"I'm not kicking you out and Tom hasn't said anything to me about wanting us to put distance between ourselves. Anyway, you don't share quarters with Dr Scott any more. Bertrise does and she's been under the weather since the first trial" Mike informed her.

"I'll share with Rachel. She barely sleeps and I'm sure she won't mind" Kate said not looking at him. It was incredibly frustrating but then Kate and his 'no sex' rule seemed to have that effect on him. He knew given the lack of prophylactics and more than 5 minutes with no interruptions were the turn off for him mentally but physically parts of his body hadn't received or were blatantly refusing to acknowledge that message and get in line.

"But I will, I've gotten used to you being in bed" Mike said as he placed his hands on the wall near beside her head effectively caging her in but not touching her as he leaned in, invading her personal space to get her attention. He also wanted to be close to her but from her rigid posture she was displaying right now; he could tell she didn't want to be touched.

"It's only been like two weeks" Kate told him as she kept her eyes glued to the wall.

"It only takes 7 days to make a habit" Mike told her with a sly smile. "Stay with me" he whispered in her ear. Kate closed her eyes as a shiver of pleasure ran down her back and also to vainly shut out Mike's presence as she was trying to make things easier for him. She knew she would become a wedge between Tom and Mike thus it was easier to remove the angst by moving out of Mike's quarters until they left the ship even though she didn't want to. But it was hard to concentrate with him standing so close to her, she took a deep breath mentally kicking herself as the clean scent of him filled her senses weakened her conviction.

"We're playing with fire now. You want to keep your reputation sparkling-" Kate started but Mike cut her off.

"My reputation is fine unless you have plans on having sex with me on the bridge with everyone watching" He told her. Kate made a derisive noise as she: one; didn't need the mental image and frankly she couldn't see him even letting her get away with being slightly flirty with him on the bridge. But then she wouldn't be flirty with him in front of his staff as the ship was his work place. She knew the rules, she used to live by them.

"Luckily for you, I'm not into having audiences" Kate told him as she focused on the wall in front of her trying to figure out the best way to continue to de-construct it.

"Then it's settled you're staying." Mike said to her, Kate frowned as she wondered if maybe she had missed something as she didn't know how he came to that conclusion, she turned around to face him and gave him a quizzical look.

"How is that settled?" She asked him incredulously, Mike gave her a cocky smile.

"We'll keep our physical relations contained in this room and my reputation will remain intact because no one has the balls to question me-"

"Except for the Captain" Kate pointed out before she said "Our physical relations?" she asked amused and cringing slightly as it felt like their relationship was slowly being reduced to Bill Clinton situation. She could even imagine Mike saying 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman'.

"What? you want me to list out everything we do together?" he asked. Slowly, he leaned forward until his lips were a breath away from hers. Kate licked her lips in anticipation of their kiss. Tension coiled between them as it was just a matter of who was going to cave in first and initiate the kiss. Mike knew it was going to be him.

"Just the explicit things" Kate said sarcastically before she grew serious "But seriously, it's only going to get hard-" Kate started to say but whatever she was going to say was lost as Mike finally took advantage of her open mouth and swooped in. Sealing his lips over hers, he let his tongue plunder her mouth, stroking it along hers, making her body quiver in deeply satisfying way.

Kate's brain ceased to function as she knew she should be stopping him. The last thing she wanted was to get riled up and then have him run off at the beck and call of his work leaving her sexually frustrated. So she bargained with herself that just a minute of pleasure would be fine. _Just a minute. _She ran her up the front of his chest as she returned his kiss with a hot and eager one. She angled her head to the side to deepen the kiss and he responded slowing the kiss down as he took his hands off the wall and moved his hands down her back pulling her close; pressing their lower halves together where she felt how aroused he was.

"Mike" Kate said breathlessly as Mike broke the kiss and continued his assault slowly kissing and gently nipping a path to her neck. He loved how there wasn't huge height difference between his 6ft 4 frame and her 5 ft 8 as it meant he wasn't craning his neck or bending over to kiss her.

"No talking" he murmured against her skin as she dropped her head back closing her eyes in pleasure "you're staying here with me in this room" Mike said against her skin before he nuzzled that sweet spot below her ear. Kate's body became pliant and needy in his arms as a quiet moan of pleasure escaped from the back of her throat. Her hands moved up to his shoulders, He felt her hands twist in the fabric of his BDU jacket as he continued to play homage to her neck knowing he could make her come in seconds. He could hear her breath quickening and feel her pulse race and her body winding up as he gently nipped the sensitive skin of her neck. He just hoped she didn't click the radio attached to his epaulette.

He lifted his head away from her neck and took her lips in a hard and demanding kiss before she could manage to string a sentence of words together. He cupped her bottom and lifted Kate off her feet. At the same time, she practically climbed him, wrapping her legs around him. Mike moved them away from the wall and took the few steps taking them into his sleeping area of his stateroom. He barely laid her down on the bed when his radio crackled to life.

_"Bridge to XO" _Lt Granderson's voice came over the line.

Mike muttered a few choice words under his breath as he looked down at Kate. "Your ship is cock blocking me" Kate grumbled as she dropped her head back and blew out a frustrated breath. Mike knew exactly how she felt as he pulled the radio piece and took a moment to catch his breath before clicked the side button.

"XO here. Go ahead" Mike said into the receiver.


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

* * *

Half an hour later,

"It's vegetarian" Kate assured Rachel as they sat the table outside the quarantine tent. Kate had brought Rachel a cup of tea and a sandwich. A sandwich that Rachel was closely inspecting like it was hiding a bomb which was why Kate reiterated that it was a vegetarian option.

Mike had left Kate to deal with whatever ship business had come up. The only consolation she had from her sex life being interrupted was that she wasn't the only one suffering as Mike was in the same situation as her. At least she could hide her arousal unlike him and she was sure whoever wanted his attention was going to met with on very surly Commander. After he had left, Kate gave up on packing up her gear and decided to seek out Rachel. The woman would have probably neglected to eat from working too much so Kate decided to be a good friend and seek her out.

"Thank you" Rachel said as she stopped checking the layers for mysterious mayo and fish mixture. She normally wasn't picky about her food but that fish spread the cooks made was disgusting. She had been working non stop synthesising the cure/vaccine as the crew tomorrow would be vaccinated tomorrow morning. She had enough for half of the crew and she estimated she could finish the rest of the required doses by sometime mid afternoon and then work on just making more for when they reached the states and distributed it to the sick.

She had already made a mental note to reserve at least a good portion of the cure/vaccine as gift for the crew's families. They had sacrificed a lot to allow her success thus it was time she paid them back in some form and this was the best she could do.

"That mayo fish stuff needs some red onion, a little salt and pepper; then it would be amazing" Kate assured her bringing Rachel back out of head and into the conversation she was having with Kate.

"No thank you" Rachel said as she'd rather have her plain salad sandwich. Glad for the food and Kate's company as she needed a break. She looked down and noted that Kate was lacking shoes and couldn't help but smile as she could only imagine Tom and the Commander's annoyance. She idly wondered if Kate went without shoes because it was easier that way or to annoy the men.

"So how's it going in there?" Kate asked gesturing to the tent. Rachel nodded and she swallowed her bite of a sandwich before she spoke.

"We're nearly have enough to vaccinate the crew. Honestly, I'll be glad when we reach Fort Detrick and I can hand this over to a properly equipped lab for mass production" Rachel told her with a sigh of relief as she was really looking forward to when she could pack up her lab and wait for it to be transported to Fort Detrick. It meant she would have some down time to finally get more than a couple hours of sleep and some much needed exercise to unwind her tense muscles while someone else picked up the torch and continued her work.

"That's good, can I ask a favour?" Kate asked her, Rachel looked at her curiously as Kate looked slightly uncomfortable at even asking for help. It made Rachel wonder how the woman survived in the Military setting given in Rachel's understanding; that it was a world that thrived on the dependency of every person doing their job to complete a mutual goal which in turn meant helping one another. Yet Kate was ridiculously independent.

"Depends on the favour" Rachel said between bites of her sandwich. She would of said 'yes' but knew it was safer to choose what favours she gave out.

"This is awkward and embarrassing" Kate said as she blew out her breath trying to find the words.

"Just ask, you want the vaccine for Commander Slattery's family" Rachel stated beating Kate to the crunch as she had a feeling she would fielding this question a lot in the next few days. It was why she wanted part of their stock reserved for the Nathan James crew.

"Actually, I was going to ask if the ship's infirmary has any form of birth control like a shot or prophylactics" Kate said with complete ease, Rachel choked on her sandwich not from shock but laughter given she was not expecting such an answer.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that" Rachel admitted after she cleared her throat and took a long pull of her water bottle. She should of given Kate had zero tact.

"I'm sorry?" Kate said half asked as if she wasn't sure if she should be apologising or not.

"You should be. I think I have some crust in my lungs" Rachel half joked before she continued "Anyway, I would have thought the Commander would have that covered. Pardon the pun" Rachel said trying not laugh or even smile as Kate shot her a mixed look of annoyance and amusement.

"Yeah, no, he's into the whole abstinence thing." Kate said making a face that said she didn't understand nor like the concept. Rachel couldn't blame her for feeling so given that if she were in Kate's shoes she wouldn't want to be celibate either. " Anyway, I just thought I'd see how you'd react to my brashness" Kate added with a sly smile.

"So what is your favour?" Rachel asked but this time she was prepared and didn't take a bite of her sandwich.

"You have any tampons or other feminine hygiene products that I could steal? It's coming up to that time of the month" Kate said casually.

"Sure, you know where I keep my stash" Rachel said, they had shared a small space with one another for the past five months that there wasn't much they didn't know about each other or where they kept their things like toiletries and what wardrobe they had.

"Thank you, I only packed for a 4 month stint and I asked Rios but apparently there's a shortage but I reckon the women are hoarding. Something I do not blame them for doing" Kate told her with a shrug but looking thoroughly amused by it.

"Do you need any more pain killers?" Rachel asked her, she had to admit it was kind of nice to have a conversation that wasn't about the vaccine even if it was their menstrual cycles.

"Nah, Rios tossed a bottle at me and told me go when I started describing my cycle. It's funny how a doctor can feel awkward about a natural function of the female form" Kate said in a matter of fact tone.

"I really wished I had been there to see that conversation" Rachel said in an amused tone as Kate had a propensity to exaggerate and not be shy about talking about bodily functions. Rachel also just loved how there was not one male on the ship who couldn't rendered completely speechless when Kate said that her uterus hated her.

"Yeah, so how's Bertrise doing?" Kate asked changing the topic.

"She's ok" Rachel answered.

"I heard she was unwell as in more than the usual unwell" Kate commented.

"It's just a flare up of fatigue, she assures me she'll be somewhat fine tomorrow after another day of rest in bed" Rachel said with a shrug, she wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with Bertrise. It was just a jumble of symptoms but nothing she could draw a diagnosis from but then Rachel was a virologist by trade not a GP. Thus she would always see the Zebra where there was probably a horse.

"Good, do you need me to help with anything that doesn't require me to do any heavy lifting?" Kate asked, Rachel smiled and shook her head but felt warmed by Kate's offer as it was rare for people to ask her if she wanted help without it having an edge of hostility.

"No, I'm good and Ensign Mason has taken it upon himself to check in on Bertrise. So I don't need any help there" Rachel told her, Kate quirked an eyebrow at her looking rather amused by the tid bit of gossip.

"Gee, maybe they should just rename the Nathan James to calling it 'The Love Boat'. We got youthful love, a pregnancy-"

"Adultery" Rachel said looking at Kate half teasing yet half serious as she knew that Kate and Mike were having an 'affair'. Rachel wasn't one to judge given she didn't know the whole story and even if she did; it wasn't her business. She was more of a 'live, let live and be happy' kind of code in regard to relationships.

"and a rocky marriage" Kate said as she saw no reason to deny that what she and Mike were doing did constitute as adultery. Rachel frowned as she was trying to think of who had a rocky marriage or if Kate was referring to Mike's marriage. "The Tophets" Kate said, Rachel wondered how Kate found out about that "Thin walls, I'm pretty sure there's no one on this ship who hasn't heard those two have a blue" Kate added as she must have read Rachel's face.

"A blue?" Rachel asked a little confused by the phrase.

"Arguing" Kate translated for her. Rachel nodded in understanding.

"It's hard" Rachel said in a serious manner as she felt the need to defend Quincy even after what he had done.

"It's hard for us all but I think Kelly needs someone to talk to. Ruskov is-was a pig and I don't think anyone's acknowledged what's she has gone through or even spoken to her about it." Kate commented as she picked invisible lint off her pants.

"Maybe you should talk with her" Rachel suggested thinking it would be a good idea but Kate obviously didn't agree as she made a 'are you insane' face at her.

"Oh no, my modus operandi when it comes to serious issues is bottles of booze and inappropriate comments followed by sex with inappropriate people. All of those options aren't viable on this ship nor do I think the Captain would appreciate me trying." Kate said dryly.

"Very true" Rachel agreed.

* * *

Some hours later in the wardroom,

"What?" Kate asked as everyone at the table were looking at her oddly and it was starting to annoy her. It didn't help that she was and had a kink in her neck from a nap she had inadvertently taken on Mike's two seater lounge. She should have been in a good mood but sexual frustration, a painful kink in her neck and a bad nap just left her in a foul mood. Add in the fact that people were shooting her suspicious looks for no appreciable reason only darkened her mood. She couldn't understand why they couldn't just say what was on their mind or pretend she wasn't there.

"I didn't say anything" Tex said as he took a bite of his dinner, Kate narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Are you ok?" he asked her.

"No, everyone is giving me odd looks like I got something stuck on face. What the fuck is up with it?" Kate asked glaring at the guilty parties at the table as she wasn't going to put up with it especially given Grodin was being the worst offender.

"Geez, check your language Miss Grump" Tex chastised her with a smile as he got up from the table and quickly replaced her cup of tepid tea with a fresh one thinking it was going to help her disposition.

"Well, I can't speak for everyone else but there are rumours you and the Commander. That you're spending a lot of time in his stateroom going over that information from your company" Grodin said, speaking up as he placed his knife and fork on the plate signifying he was finished with eating.

_Is this what Co-ed high school feels like?..._ Kate thought as she rolled her eyes as she can only imagine how stupid half of the rumours would be.

"and?" Kate prompted him as Grodin made it seem like he had more to say but was holding back.

"And you're not exactly open with the information unless it's in a passive aggressive manner." Grodin said in a tone that said 'we're all adults here please use the appropriate tone.

"You mean when 'people'…" Kate used her fingers to mimic the gesture for quotation marks as she wasn't going to say it was Tom outright. "demand to know things as if they are a petulant child?" Kate asked Grodin mockingly.

"Red, I can see why didn't you make Major" Tex told her with a wry smile trying to inject some levity in the situation. Kate gave a shrug as it was partially true and she couldn't be bothered explaining something that was in the past.

"So, you're saying if I asked you for information. You'd share it?" Grodin asked.

"Sure to a certain extent" Kate told him.

"So the map-" he started. But Kate cut him off as she knew he was talking about the map she had downloaded from the mainframe which showed how little was left of the US.

"That map is fucking depressing and it's old information that is no longer applicable to our situation. So yeah, I asked it not be plastered on the wall because I'm not going to be the one who made morale drop or be the one who's blamed when one of you eats your side arm" Kate told him crassly.

"Geezus Red" Tex said voicing his shock and how uncomfortable he was feeling at her words.

"What? We're having an open and honest conversation" Kate said mockingly.

"You could show some tact" Tex told her.

"Yeah, and how dare you think that anyone of us-" Grodin started defensively, Kate could see that Grodin was one of those who believed suicide was something that only cowards did and somehow she was insulting the crew's strength.

"It happens to the best of people" Kate argued before she gave a sigh "I share what information is relevant to the mission with the Commander and the Captain. Why? Because their rank earns them the privilege; if anyone has an issue with that then go and talk to them" Kate told him and those at the table.

"Why can't we ask you?" Grodin asked.

"Well, I don't know about the others but I'm not telling you anything because I don't like you or your sense of self entitlement. It pisses me off" Kate told him.

* * *

Sometime later,

"Lassiter" Tom said in greeting to Kate when he came into the wardroom. He wondered what Kate was doing here so late at night by herself. But then he saw that she was looking at something on her mobile phone obviously caught up in whatever she was reading.

"Chandler" Kate replied placing the iphone on the table giving her eyes a break "What's the time?" she asked too tired to look at her phone any longer.

She really wanted to go back a couple of hours ago to Mike's Stateroom but there were too many people milling around for her to slip in there. She knew that it wasn't a secret, the ship was way too small for people not to notice but she preferred not make it a blatantly obvious.

"Late, what are you reading?" he asked as he poured himself a cup of decaf coffee before he sat down at the head of the table to her right side. It was the first break he'd been able to manage all day as was grateful to be off his feet even if Kate was his company.

"Just stuff about my friend" Kate said with a shrug. She was reading Anna's psychological profile and medical records. Of course she didn't understand half of what it was about but what she did read made her concerned. She knew if Tom was taking a break that meant the ship had definitely quietened down.

"Not good?" Tom asked obviously reading her less than happy demeanour. She didn't see any point in lying to man or concealing how she felt about it given how easily suspicious he could become.

"No but then there's nothing I can do and she's most likely dead. So I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time reading her files" Kate told him truthfully, it was a useless exercise for her to read it all at best.

"We are all trying to keep some kind of connection the families we have" Tom offered, Kate looked at him and made a face of discomfort.

"Please spare me from one of your pep talk about emotions and families" Kate told him. Tom paused in taking a sip and looked at her incredulously as he inwardly questioned her ability to be a 'normal' person.

"Were you raised by wolves?" Tom asked in genuine curiosity, Kate chuckled and gave a slight shrug.

"Something like that" Kate said as if agreeing with his question. "So what's the plan after Fort Detrick?" Kate asked him. She sat back in her chair and rested her elbows on the arm rests whilst interlacing her fingers.

"There isn't one yet but if it all goes smoothly. I'd say some extended R&amp;R will be in order for the crew. Give them a chance to track down their families before we'll be needed to distribute the vaccine. What are your plans?" he asked her.

"Undecided at the moment" Kate told him. They looked at one another for as they sized up their responses both of them lying through their teeth about what was going to happen. Kate had plans and Tom knew they wouldn't gel with his but right now Kate needed the illusion of free choice.

"Not going to track down your friend?" He asked after taking a sip of coffee.

"No, if Anna is alive then she'll find me" Kate told him.

"Sounds ominous" Tom remarked.

"Not really, I'm just terribly predictable to her" Kate said casually which made Tom wondered if this woman 'Anna' was going to be a future problem. But before he could ask Kate more about it the door to the wardroom opened and Mike stepped in.

"Hey" Mike said in greeting to them. Kate and Tom both looked at him and wondered what the two could possibly having an amicable conversation about given the two had a history of arguing. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked them as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Nope" Kate told him with a closed lip smile, she looked exhausted to him. He wondered what she was still doing up as normally she was in bed by now asleep. What he wouldn't give to join her in bed right now instead of being on duty. He looked to Tom who didn't look angry or perturbed but the room was way too calm for him to be completely comfortably.

"Alright" Mike replied deciding to take them at face value as he moved to the coffee station to fix himself a coffee and brave the awkward tension in the room.

"Anyway going back to the subject of my friend. She was last seen in Baltimore before the Avocet lab there went down" Kate told Tom, as Mike sat down opposite her at the table with his coffee.

"We'll possibly be making port near Baltimore" Mike remarked joining the conversation. He noticed Tom's strained expression and realised he might have made a faux pas by mentioning it.

"You guys going to let me borrow the Helo?" Kate them with a hopeful and yet somewhat joking tone as she knew the chances of her getting the Helo was slim to none.

"No" Tom told her confirming the chances were zero.

"Then it's a waste of time; me checking it out as I'll have no way of getting there except by foot and since you haven't told me exactly where we're going to be docking it makes planning a bit of a bitch" Kate said amicably.

"Good point though where we dock is dependent on what the clearest route to the Fort is" Tom told her.

"Of course and as much as I'd love to discuss that I am knackered. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to turn in for the evening" Kate said as she rose from her chair the gentlemen rose with her out of deference

"Night" Tom told her as she exited the wardroom. Once the door closed he and Mike retook their seats. "She's angling for Baltimore" Tom said to Mike.

"It does have the most direct route to Fort Detrick. If the roads are clear" Mike commented before he took a sip of his coffee.

"You too?" Tom asked wryly, he knew it true but he didn't like his best friend siding with Kate. It was the complications of a woman you didn't really like being in a relationship with your best friend.

"Deer Park is only 11 hours away from Fort Detrick" Mike added as he was now angling for his own escape from the ship.

"Mike" Tom said in a clearly defeated tone as he was tired of saying 'no' to Mike about this. "As much as I-" but Mike didn't let him finish.

"We refuel the Helo it would only take a few hours maybe less" Mike bargained, his tone was casual but they both knew Mike would take it extremely personal that he wouldn't be able to find his family. They both knew Tom needed him even when they got to Fort Detrick. They just didn't have the luxury to run off to their families.

"Even if we found a refuelling station, I can't let you or the Helo go." Tom told him, it was something they hadn't discussed but had been brewing between them for a while.

Tom was hoping it would go unsaid but it was no longer a luxury given how close they were to getting home but just because they were home didn't mean the mission was over. Mike seemed to understand what Tom was saying as his features darkened and his lips thinned into a fine line. His chin lifted slightly in a display of anger and defiance as it did when Mike didn't get his way.

"You also can't let Kate go either given she's the only qualified pilot we have given Grodin hasn't grown a pair to fly solo in a hostile situation yet. Have you told Kate this?" Mike asked as he tried to temper his anger. He knew Tom was thinking of the ship and its mission but he wondered why he had expected Tom to allow him to secure his family, to allow him and Kate to go when it was obvious the man wanted to keep them in servitude until he felt the mission was complete to his satisfaction.

"I wasn't going to bring it up with her as I figured she would come to the realisation on her own. It's obvious that just because we drop Dr Scott off at Fort Detrick that the mission isn't over and we'll need a pilot." Tom said carefully.

He for one was not looking forward to that conversation with Kate either but he was going to be relieved when Dr Scott was off the ship. Once there was distance between Rachel and himself then the feelings the woman was stirring in him would hopefully dissipate and he could focus. But right now he had to deal with Mike, who'd hopefully soften the blow for Kate when he got around to asking her to stay before telling her she had to stay.

"It's one thing for me to be duty bound to the ship and crew but Kate-"

"Is duty bound just like the rest of us when she signed the waiver to board this ship and be the Nathan James' Helo pilot" Tom informed him, it was complete bullshit and as much as Tom hated the asshole it made him to be. He had realised that he couldn't let Kate run off as Grodin like Mike had bluntly described wasn't up to snuff to take over.

"You know that line between what made us different from El Toro?" Mike asked him as he rose from his chair and gave Tom a hard look.

"It's not the same and we're heading into murky waters where you have nothing to keep you afloat considering your current conduct of un-gentlemanly behaviour" Tom said calmly going for the low blow. He was manipulating the situation to suit his needs but he knew that the end would justify the means. He just hoped at the end of it Mike would be able to forgive him.

"I going back to the bridge" Mike said he had to get out of the room before he did something stupid. He didn't even wait for Tom's reply as he picked up his cup of coffee and left the wardroom.

Tom dropped his head into hand as he felt like a complete asshole but it needed to be done. He couldn't afford to lose his XO and Kate was a necessary evil of keeping Mike in line and vice versa.

* * *

Hours later,

Mike closed the door to his stateroom glad that he was finally off for the morning. He didn't mind working the night shift, it wasn't his dream shift given how it messed with his sleeping patterns. Granted he slept very little when he was deployed but usually after a night shift he needed at least 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep in his pitch black sleeping quarters. Otherwise there was not enough coffee to soothe his annoyance that came from little sleep and way too much light.

So right now in the dimmed lighting of his stateroom he felt a blissful peace roll over him as it meant Kate was still asleep and the room was dark enough for his brain to say 'Yep, time for bed'. He didn't bother look at the state of the main room as kicked off his boots and moved into the sleeping area of his quarters. There on the bed, Kate was laid out on her back like a starfish with her arms and legs spread out pretty much taking up all the space.

He couldn't help but smile as the phrase 'Give them an inch and they'll take a mile' came into his thoughts. He quietly walked past the bed letting her be as he needed a shower and fresh clothes before he tried to wrestle Kate for space.

* * *

"Mm hey" Kate murmured sleepily as she woke up at the dip of the bed when Mike sat down. She turned onto her right side and slightly winced as her shoulder panged with pain but shuffled back so she was closer to wall making space for him in the bed. She cracked a sleepy eye and watched as Mike slipped into the space she had provided.

"What's the time?" Kate asked, Mike barely had time to get comfortable before she slinked herself over his body. She tucked herself against the left side of him and rested her head on his shoulder whilst throwing a leg over his hips whilst she laid a hand on top of his chest. Mike wrapped his arms around her enjoying the weight of her body half on top of his.

"You comfortable yet?" he asked her trying not to laugh, as all her wriggling around was not helping him relax and right now he wanted to just that; to relax and preferably get some sleep prefer before she decided it was time to wake up and arouse him further than he already was.

"Yep" Kate told him, he could hear her smiling at him.

"It's 7am" He told her, answering her earlier question before he pressed a kiss onto the top of her forehead before dropping his head back and closing his eyes.

"You have breakfast yet?" Kate asked him before letting out a sleepy yawn.

"Yeah, I have" Mike replied, he relished the feeling of lying down and his body relaxing after a long night of work.

"Mmm okay" Kate said still half asleep as she reluctantly began to pull away.

"Hey, wait there's no need to rush" Mike said tugging her back down onto him. Kate came back into his arms willingly. He just wanted to enjoy the moment for just a little while longer before they spent the day apart or worse having to keep their hands to themselves. It was easy to do given Mike wasn't big on public displays of affection but it did kill him that the option if he changed his mind on the matter wasn't open to him. Even just the simplest and innocuous of gestures like squeezing her shoulders would be misinterpreted by Tom. It was bad enough their friendship felt rocky-

"I'll have to eat at some point" She mumbled dragging Mike out of his head space and back into the present. She pressed her face into the crook of his neck taking a deep inhale and the exhaled relaxing against him.

"Just stay half an hour" Mike said not exactly asking her to stay but it was still an invitation she was going to take as it meant half an hour of hopefully uninterrupted time alone with Mike. She would have taken the invitation with Gusto but she could tell he was too exhausted and needed to sleep more than fend off her sexual advances.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

* * *

"When we get home, we can use this as a vaccine and a cure?" Tom asked as he watched Rachel, she was looked content and rested like she had managed to get more than a few hours of sleep as she stood over at his desk with a med kit bag. She opened it and pulled out surgical gloves, a syringe and a vial of the vaccine along with alcohol swabs.

"The uninfected will be immunized, and the sick can be cured, providing they're not too far gone." Rachel said trying to keep her jubilation at their success inside as she prepped the syringe. "After all the failures and the false starts, I just feel so…"

"Happy" Tom supplied as her, Rachel was unsure if the word 'Happy' truly encapsulated what she was feeling. But it would have to do. She gave a sharp exhale and smiled as she came towards him with the syringe.

"I can't truly remember the last time that I felt that emotion." She reflected, a small part of her felt guilty for feeling such a joyful emotion given the situation. "Still so much to do. We have to mass produce it, we have to distribute it" She said, relief washed over her at the fact that they were here at the stage of saving people's live and she had not failed them. "Thank God" she said in a relieved tone.

She looked up and locked eyes with Tom seeing for the tenderness in his gaze as he looked at her. she just wished it had more to do with her as woman than her work. She knew better than to misinterpret it as the man was married and was probably feeling some misty eyed emotions about saving his wife and children. _The lucky woman…_ Rachel thought.

"Rachel You did it. Let's enjoy the moment." Tom told her. Rachel gave a closed lipped smile and nodded. Tom rolled up his sleeve baring his arm to her and Rachel quickly swabbed the spot she was going to inject and sank the syringe into his arm. Once she injected the vaccine she pulled the needle out and before she took her other hnd away to move back to her med case to dispose of the needle Tom caught her hand.

She thought at first it was a mistake given he had tugged his sleeve down at the same time but he caught the fingers of her left hand in his and she looked up at him confused by the mixed messages he was giving her. But not wanting to question it or drive herself insane she broke eye contact and pulled her hand out his. She moved over to her med kit bag and quickly disposed of the syringe and her gloves into a small biohazard bag.

"Before I forget, I wanted to give this to you" Rachel said breaking the awkward tension in the room. She pulled out a small zippered pouch and held out to Tom. "I know we haven't spoken about the distribution of the current stockpile but I wanted to square at least a third of it for the crew. So this is for your family" She told him, he frowned as he took the pouch and unzipped it to find four syringes prepped with doses of the vaccine.

"Thank you" Tom said, the word 'but' was right on the tip of his tongue along with a gamut of reasons why he couldn't take it but looking at Rachel; he could see it was important for him to accept the gift. "Thank you" he repeated with reverence. She gave a soft smile before she went back to her bag and zipped it up.

"Of course and know I will be giving the same kit to Commander Slattery as well as a token of my gratitude. I know that as leaders you are always the first to sacrifice anything and the last to collect a reward but I think just this once you can both be a little selfish" Rachel told him before she left Tom to his thoughts as he clutched onto the pouch she had given him like it were precious cargo.

* * *

A couple hours later in Helo bay 2,

"Form up." Jeter said the crew that were standing around chatting to one another. After he uttered the order the men and women fell into a quick formation. He looked to the door and watched as Mike stepped through the hatch he came through and walked up to the group. He couldn't help but notice the exhaustion in the man as he was dragging his feet slightly and he wore a slightly annoyed expression. An expression that Jeter knew was purely reserved for when the XO was operating on little caffeine and sleep.

He knew the man was lacking in caffeine and sleep because he had to wake the XO to give him the news that they needed to hold a meeting for the crew to inform them about how they were going to passing by Norfolk and the current information about mission and Fort Detrick. They also needed to warn them about orphan signals coming off the cell towers. If they happened. Jeter would have been fine to conduct the meeting by himself but knew Mike preferred to stay current on news and keep his presence among the crew known. It was in Jeter's opinion was what made XO a good leader, he was the rock that helped those around him stay grounded. Whilst his speeches were lack lustre, his presence, dedication and perseverance to see every mission to the end inspired those around him to act the same.

The only fault when it came to their XO was that he was always working too much and not taking the time to rest. It usually meant by the end of the deployment the man would be close to burning out. Something they couldn't afford given their mission that seemed to have no end date in mind. Though Jeter had to admit after the success of getting the Captain back from the Vyerni had set off some kind of catalyst between the XO and Kate Lassiter. He, of course ignored the fact that the XO was sharing his quarters with Lassiter. He ignored it because he had yet to see whatever Lassiter and the XO's relationship affect the commander's abilities to perform his day to day duties on the ship or be influence by Lassiter.

The only issue he could see was the strain between the Captain and Lassiter but that was more of a clash between two very stubborn and aggressive personalities than anything else. It also didn't seem to put any visible strain on the Captain and the XO's relationship or command as they were a united front. Jeter watched as Mike stopped in front of the formation.

The man looked to the crew in front of him. Seeing their faces filled with apprehension, hope and joy as they could sense the finality of being able to go home. It was just sad that none of them were going on yet and Mike was the bearer of bad news. He gave sigh and then began to speak.

"Okay, here's the deal. We are presently attempting to make contact with the infectious disease lab at Fort Detrick, as it has just the facility Dr. Scott requires for mass producing the cure. So far we've had no joy." Mike said, he took a breath and continued as he saw some of the crew looking confused and others jumping ahead of themselves in assuming the worst. "I'll be honest, knowing how deadly this plague is and how fast it spreads, I don't have any confidence that there's gonna be any survivors. So that being said, there's a reason they call it a fort. And if anyone can hold their own, it's our friends in the U.S. army. Master Chief" Mike said stepping back to give the floor to Jeter.  
"Thank you, sir." Jeter said stepping forward to speak with the group. Mike was always in awe of how Jeter could capture a crowd's attention, hold it and manage to imbue confidence where there wasn't any to be found. It was a gift Mike felt he definitely lacked. He could run a ship but dealing with delicacy of crew morale and giving uplifting speeches wasn't in his wheelhouse.

"I want to address the issue that's on all of our minds. On our way up the coast, our ship will be passing right by Norfolk. By home."Jeter paused allowing his words to sink in before he continued. "And our comms team tells us we could pick up some orphan signals from random cell towers or servers still online. You may even get a phone call if they've restored power on land. It's unlikely, but I just wanna prepare you." Jeter told them.

Jeter stepped back to stand beside Mike who took his cue and spoke again. "We don't know what to expect when we get back to the states. The only way to help the people we love is to deliver Dr. Scott and the cure to a secure and workable lab. Detrick's our best bet, so that's our mission." Mike told them, his tone firm and strong so they understood it was their orders.  
"Aye, sir." The crew said in unison and with that Mike turned on his feet and started out of the room just as Jeter told them to 'carry on' he heard the crew disperse as he exited the area heading back up towards the wardroom as he needed a cup of coffee if he was going to make it through the next few hours waiting for a satellite to pass over Fort Detrick and then he was going have to get some sleep.

* * *

A few hours later,

"Any station in this net vicinity of Fort Detrick U.S.A.M.R.I.I.D., this is U.S. James, over." Ensign Mason said for possibly the 20th time in the last couple of hours. Kate dropped her head back and gave a frustrated sigh as she was pretty sure she could repeat what Mason was saying verbatim.

"Just give it up. No one is home" Kate said loudly in the hopes Mason would take a break. She knew it was rude but couldn't help it. The never-ending perseverance on the ship was grating on her nerves. She was sitting in a chair a couple stations away from Lt Forster who was working with comms room to locate a satellite and gain access to it to see what was happening at Fort Detrick. She didn't even know why Tom wanted her in the room but he had summoned her.

Kate jumped slightly as two hands grabbed her by the shoulders near the base of her neck. She looked up to the owners and saw Mike leaning over her as if he needed to get her attention.

"You don't know that, so I think we'd all appreciate it if you didn't make any assumptions" Mike told her in a low and chastising tone as he squeezed her shoulders gently for a second before he stepped back from her and folded his arms. She was surprised by the gesture as it was a little overly friendly but given his current demeanour anyone looking probably figured that he was intimidating her more than anything else.

"It's been like 3 hours of non stop hailing with no answer which means the Fort is either not there or everyone there is dead" Kate told Mike.

"Lassiter, you ever heard of morale?" Tom asked sarcastically dragging Kate's attention from Mike to him as he didn't need Kate bringing the crew back to reality with stating the obvious as he wanted them all to enjoy their success of getting this far. Nor was he ready to admit that Kate and Mike were quite at ease in their ruse that they were nothing to one another. He wondered how one minute they could act like they couldn't live without the other and the next pretend as if they were strangers who just met in a café.

It annoyed him as he felt like he was an open book when it came to his emotions and this mission. As if everyone could see his struggles and worse it made him wonder if they could see the unwanted attraction he had for Rachel. Kate looked at him and wore a smug smile as if she could read his thoughts and found them amusing.

"Yes, I've been told it's as delicate as the male ego" Kate said in a tongue in cheek manner. Tom pursed his lips as he tried not to encourage her as she had been in an irreverent manner all morning. He looked to Mike gave him a blank look which basically said Tom was on his own with dealing with Kate's irreverence. But before Tom could say anything Lt Forster leaned back in her chair and spoke first.

"Captain, S.E.S. reports that the keyhole satellite will be flying over our whiskey in 50 seconds. Unable to steer, but they did manage to break the uplink/downlink encryption. Bringing up the feed now." Lt Forster said, they all looked to big screen as Lt Forster pressed a few buttons. A map of the US displayed on the screen before them with five long wave lines showing satellite paths.

"It's travelling fast" Mike commented as he looked at the large screen where a red dot moving along one of the long wave lines at an impressive speed.

"Too fast, sir. There's no one left at home to control it." Lt Forster told him. She said the last part in a slightly despondent tone. Mike had a feeling that any drop in morale would be due to whatever they were about to see and not Kate's annoyance at the crew's steadfast faith that persistence was the key to success.

"When it gets over the area, we'll have less than a minute to capture the images we can." Mike estimated as it was a very small window, anxiety started to worm itself to life in his gut because it wasn't enough time and any delays in their mission meant a longer sentence for himself and Kate on the ship. It brought the ever present ticking in his mind of time that was passing between when his duty was finished with the ship and seeing his daughters alive.

"We just need enough to chart a clear route from the land to the lab." Tom said as he folded his arms and looked at the screen waiting for the live feed as this topographical map told them nothing. The door to the CIC opened and Tom turned his head to see Rachel come into the room. She looked a little bedraggled like she had just rolled out of bed and tossed on her clothes but forgot to do her hair. She pulled the cardigan she was wearing tighter around her body as she looked at him apologetically for being late.

"We've tapped into one of the air force's spy satellites to check the traffic to Fort Detrick." Tom told her in a low voice so she was up to date with the rest of them.

"Well, why not send your helicopter or drone?" Rachel asked Tom.

"No more fuel. They spent it all looking for me and shut up Kate" Tom said before Kate could make a comment about it whether it had been worth it or not. Kate held her hands up in Mock surrender but blissfully remained silent but her smile spoke volumes.

"Satellite passing over us." Forster said as Mason continued to his mission to make contact with the outside world. The screen black out and then static filled the screen. Kate sat up in her chair paying attention as she was just as curious as the others.

"Come on, give us something." Mike said anxiously as he looked at the screen, watching the static. It was as if someone was listening upstairs as a picture appeared on the screen. It was a eye in the sky shot of Maryland.

"There it is. Home." Forster said with reverence. Mike could feel the atmosphere in the room change as everyone stopped what they were doing to see the first pictures of their home. He along with everyone else as Lt Forster used the connection to key hole satellite to zoom. The picture enlarged and a red light shone on the map to indicate where Fort Detrick was.

"That's interstate 70" Mike stated as he recognised the highway. He'd travelled down that highway enough times to recognise it even from the distance the map was showing.

"If it's clear, it'll get us all the way to Detrick." Tom said, hope began to blossom in the room as this made their coming home a reality. It showed how close they were getting to the finish line.

"There'll be some image blur, but I'll get you closer, sir." Lt Forster said as she tapped a few keys on the console. The picture grew again and was heavily pixilated for a few seconds before it cleared up to show the highway.

"That's a mass evacuation" Mike said looking at the clogged up side of the Highway that was exiting the main cities yet the highway was completely clear going towards the city. It was a good sign as it meant a relatively easy route straight to their destination.

"Take us north a mile." Tom told Lt Forster directing her to use the satellite to capture images of Fort Detrick.

"Aye, sir." Lt Forster said as she complied to his orders. The images changed and when the screen cleared up it showed them an area further north from I70. Right on the pavement in what looked to be an entry road to Fort Detrick there was a large 'X' painted on the ground.

"That red 'X' Some sort of quarantine?" Tom asked Rachel as he assumed that maybe she knew what it was about given it wasn't a military marker of any kind that he could identify.

"More like a warning sign to stay away." Rachel commented as she looked at the screen. Tom looked to Mike and the men exchanged looks as they both had a bad feeling about the rest of the base. If it was marked as a warning to leave then it meant there was a good possibility no one was home and they would need to defer to plan C. The plan they hadn't come up with yet.

"Looks like people took it seriously." Tom said in reply to Rachel's comment as it looked like the place had been abandoned in a hurry. Rachel said nothing but he could see she was concerned, he looked to Kate wondering how the Australian was taking all of this in. It wasn't her home but she had a lot tied up in them finishing this mission even if she hadn't realised it yet. Kate sat forward in her chair watching the screen. He wondered what she was thinking or possibly seeing that he wasn't since she wore a thoughtful expression.

"Sir, the satellite's approaching Fort Detrick" Forster said drawing Tom's attention to the screen in front of him. The image showed an aerial shot that encompassed the whole of Fort. Tom looked over his shoulder as Mason continued to try and hail the Fort but no one was answering. From the aerial shot it looked like the place had been abandoned but it too blurred to make anything out for sure.

"The laboratory building's in the center of campus". Rachel said directing the Lieutenant so she could set the satellite to area they needed to see.

"Roger that, ma'am." Forster said acknowledging Rachel's information, she typed on the keyboard and the image on the screen pixilated as it changed blurring the image "Zooming in" she added, it took a few moments but when the image cleared up; the room grew quiet.

"Oh, my God." Rachel whispered as the image before her was not what she had expected or wanted to see. "It's been completely destroyed. The lab, the containment areas, the equipment, everything." Rachel said stating the obvious out loud as she like everyone else was shocked and filled with disappointment.

"Nothing else on the base was burned" Mike commented as it was the only area to destroyed whilst the rest of the fort was intact.

"That lab was targeted." Tom said added as he like Mike knew that whoever did this had targeted the labs directly as the strike was surgical in nature. Too cleanly done for it be home terrorism or a riot which made him wonder who the hell would do it and would they be friends or another enemy to watch out for.

"Who would've done that?" Rachel asked a question Tom would like to know the answer to himself but before anyone could come up with an answer. A bird tweeting sounded in the room and everyone looked for the source until their eyes landed on Kate who wore a surprised expression as she picked up her mobile and hit the answer.

"Hello" Kate said casually into the phone as if getting a phone call was a norm for her given the months of silence they had all endured. She pulled the phone from her ear and winced much to everyone's relief and envy. Relief because they didn't want to anyone on the ship to get a phone call from their loved ones given the silence they had endured and envy because Kate was the only person on the ship to anyone's knowledge who'd received a call.

"I got excited there for a moment" Kate commented as she hung up the phone and placed it on the desk. But within seconds of doing so her phone made bird noises again. She gave a sigh and rose from her chair and picked up the phone. She hit the answer button and headed out of CIC to go on the deck to get a better signal and hopefully hear whoever was on the other end of the line.

* * *

Meanwhile on the Mainland,

"Kate?! Can you hear me?" Anna shouted into the satellite phone, hoping if she shouted that maybe Kate could hear her as her partner Inez swerved the battered up SUV through the streets of Baltimore to a meeting. Anna could hear Kate's voice but she didn't seem to be hearing Anna's which was incredibly frustrating.

"Kate- Damnit." Anna cursed as the line went dead, she knew Kate had hung up on her yet again. She blamed the satellite coverage wishing not for the first time in years that just something important would work out for her. She could handle her crappy health if the satellite phone could work because she needed to talk to Kate. The woman needed to know that Baltimore was dangerous and that they needed to rendezvous in a safe location and get the hell out of the city before they were captured.

Anna would have left as soon as she had been able but her body was still weak and she was still heavily relying on Inez and would need someone to always support her. Given her situation, it was easier to stay with Inez and she wanted since they heard the Nathan James being hailed by the Granderson's camp. Anna didn't blame her the woman had grandkids and their father was apparently on the ship. If he was still alive. Given that Inez had helped Anna, it meant that Anna owed her to stick it out and make sure Inez was reunited with her son.

"Anna, we are here" Inez said as she pulled the SUV out front of the old warehouse in the old industrial district near the shipping yard deep in Thorwald's territory. She took in the surroundings, it was eerie how deserted the world felt now thanks to the virus.

"You should head back and keep trying to contact the number in the sat phone" Anna told her as she opened the door and hopped out of the car.

"You sure you don't want to me wait?" Inez asked, Anna shook her head as she unclipped her P90 from her TAC vest and readied in her hands. She smiled at the woman appreciating the concern.

"Definitely, those girls of yours are going to starve if you don't get home and cook them breakfast. Now remember to keep an eye on the property border-"

"And shoot anyone who crosses the line" Inez finished, Anna gave a closed lip smile as they had had this conversation many times. But it was important for Inez to remember if she and her grandchildren were going to survive. Especially if Anna didn't make it out of this meeting alive. "I know and I'm speaking to Kate on the phone. Remind her of Rota and if she doesn't remember that I'm to tell her about the time she lost her chance at a promotion. I'm old not senile" Inez said in a dull yet amused tone.

"I never thought you were senile" Anna told her as she shut the passenger door close and waved. Inez gave a nod and drove off, leaving Anna on her own. She turned on her feet and headed towards the designated meet spot. She kept to the shadows as she was not an idiot. If this was a trap to kill her which she believed it was. She was not going to get picked off by a sniper.

A few minutes later she entered the warehouse where a soft yellow light was spilling from. She cautiously made her way in, taking in the large space. It was completely empty shell of a building that was surprising clean, she was surprised as she expected it to be filled with junk metal and other random crap that would provide shelter for extra soldiers to lie in wait. She looked up into the rafters and saw them empty, it made her uneasy as she saw at the centre of the large floor space sat a table with a lantern on it surrounded by chairs ans where a group of men currently stood. All edgy as hell and armed.

"Hatake, about time you showed up" said a soldier who was in his mid thirties with dark hair, he wore an army uniform but then these days anyone could strip a corpse and pretend to be a soldier. Many did but this man was legitimate as she personally knew him from her Army days, he was her only ally in the room even though they pretended to be enemies. It was important for her to appear as the 'lone wolf' as they were both waiting for back up in the form of the Nathan James. She was able to keep an eye on the power shifts in the anti-military nut groups that shot up after the outbreak whilst he covered the other side.

"Give me a break Boyscout. I got lost, there are a lot of warehouses and not a lot signs" Anna told him in a bored tone as she took on her persona that used with the men in the room. She clipped her P90 to her vest and rested her hands on the butt of the gun. It was a deceivingly relaxed stance to say she didn't perceive any of them as threats but they all knew from personal experience she was not a woman to be crossed as she'd have no problem killing them.

"Gentlemen" Anna said in greeting to the others as she sat down at the table. She pushed her chair back so there was enough space for her to lift her weapon if necessary. The others followed suit except for the man who called the meeting.

"Please everyone take a seat" he said as he stood at the head of the table, Anna fought to roll her eyes as Thorwald thought he was king of this domain but what he didn't know was that he just another snake in this nest. Anna looked around at the men, the main contenders were herself, Thorwald, then there was the Messiah; a cult leader a large following, the megalomaniac with a fully operational and staffed nuclear submarine and her Boyscout; her ally, he only had a handful of highly trained soldiers enough to mess with and have a presence but not enough to make a grab for any real power. If anything he was always being approached to join someone's group much like Anna was. She of course was wanted because they didn't understand her and they feared her ruthlessness and apparent lack of fear when it came to death. It also helped that she was the only person known to survive and escape Granderson's hospital ship. Though the term 'hospital' was used loosely as they weren't helping the sick or any of the patients confined in there.

There were also a couple low level thugs who only had power because they had control on the black market weapons and other resources those at the table needed. It was the only reason they had a seat at the table was that everyone at the table needed their resources except for Anna. Only she didn't need them because she didn't have an army or followers in the Messiah's case that needed large amounts of weapons or food. Boyscout, she knew used them for intelligence on the others at the table.

"I'm glad you all could make it though I don't appreciate my messenger being shot. I liked him" Thorwald said looking pointedly at Anna. She pursed her lips looking as unimpressed as he probably felt at her.

"He knew the rules" Anna said in a bored manner as she had explained them to no end yet the men at the table but apparently they liked to keep testing her.

"You could have wounded him. G-" The Messiah started but Anna cut him off as she didn't need a speech about how those who survived the virus were the 'chosen ones' and needed to be 'saved' or whatever religious muck he spewed. She didn't need to be preached.

"There's no point in having rules if one doesn't enforce them. You also know that while I appreciate your faith I don't need your words of wisdom about what God would think of me" Anna told him coldly."Now can we please get to the point of this meeting quickly as it's freezing and I have better places to be" Anna said looking to Thorwald to take control as he liked to be deferred to as the leader.


	51. Chapter 51

_A/N: Thank you to Scousedancer and IfUKnewUCouldNotFail for your reviews! It's great to get so much feedback, I really appreciate it :-)... Now onwards with the story!_

* * *

**Chapter 51**

* * *

"Anyone on the other end of that phone yet?" Tom asked as Kate came down the stairs from one of the upper levels. It was purely chance that they had crossed paths but Tom was glad as he wanted to have a chat with her about Fort Detrick and her lack of shoes. He wondered why she kept running around barefoot but it annoyed the hell out of him because one day she was going to rip a toe nail off and he had a feeling he'd never hear the end of it.

"Nope, just static. It's getting really annoying" Kate said as stopped at the bottom of stairs and continued a few more steps before standing to one side of the hallway.

"You should feel lucky, you're the only with reception who's getting phone calls. Do you know who's calling?" Tom asked her. He watched as an array of emotions skated across her features ranging from exhaustion, anger to fear before she shook her head. for not the first time in the last few days of watching her from a distance and trying not to agitate her; he felt concern. He just heard Rachel's insights about Kate playing in his head about what looking through her husband's company. He put them both into a no win situation and he couldn't figure a way of back-pedalling out of it without losing face. But he could see the signs in her, she was burning out. Clearly he needed to talk with Mike and work out a way of cutting Kate loose on her responsibility to Lassiter Industries because at the end of the day he knew he would need a helo pilot more than a walking encyclopaedia of information.

"Nope, the number is blocked but when I find out I'll let you know" Kate told him with a sigh of what he interpreted to be aggravation instead of insolence which would have been his first thought. He knew if he was going to cut Kate and Mike some slack he had to stop being reactive to everything they said or did that rose his hackles.

"Really?" He asked surprised as he figured he'd probably have to keep asking.

"Yes, so what's up?" Kate asked him but Tom didn't get the answer her question when Mason came around the corner in a rush calling at him.

"Sir! Sir!" Mason said, he stopped just at Tom's side completely out of breath due to running from the Comms. room to where he and Kate stood. Kate folded her arms and kept quiet, exhaustion and annoyance because she wondered if Tom had sought her out for a reason or if their bump in was just by accident. But Mason's arrival seemed to save them both.

"Take a breath." Tom told Mason. Kate watched as the young man caught his breath, he was practically vibrating with excitement which tended to be pretty rare on this ship given majority of the news coming from Comms was still depressing as hell. "What is it?" Tom asked him prompting the Ensign.

"I caught a new broadcast" Mason before he heaved a breath in and started walking back in the direction he had come from. "It's another loop. But this one was updated today. And there's something you need to hear." Mason told Tom who followed him with keen interest.

"Ok, should I just wait here?" Kate said to herself as Tom had left without even saying if he was done talking with her. She gave a sigh and shook her head before walking off towards the wardroom to get herself a cup of tea.

* * *

A few minutes later in Comms.,

"_Winds are coming out of the southwest, and temperatures will reach-"_

A melodic female voice said through the main speakers in the comm. room and sound crackled with static. To Mike, the woman had vaguely similar voice to the satnav Christina proclaimed she needed in the car just get to the shops. He felt it was a waste of money not that it mattered anymore but the voice on the speakers just brought up the old memory.

"How come we're just hearing this now?" Mike asked Mason impatient to see what had the Ensign so eager for his and Tom's presence. This was the second loop they'd listened too without hearing the message Mason had claimed to hear as they had come through on the back end of the first loop when they entered the room.

Mike was pacing the small space as he knew that once he stopped moving there was a high possibility he'd fall asleep. He blamed the vaccine as his stamina was not as good as it used to be but then the extra sleep hadn't hurt him. The fatigue he was feeling however was annoying. It didn't seem fair that Tom and Mason looked fine; sure he could forgive the kid he had youth on his side but Tom was holding up pretty well given Mike couldn't remember the last time Tom mentioned getting some sleep.

"Probably a weak F.M. transmitter, sir. It must've just come into range" Mason offered as an explanation. The kid was earnest and somewhat desperate to keep Tom and Mike's attention.

"_There are reports of a fresh outbreak of the red flu in sector 9.-"  
_

"Red flu." Tom said repeating the name the woman had given the virus that had decimated the Earth's population as he talked over the woman's voice as she continued to read out a report. "Is that what they're calling it?" Tom added in a dry tone, looking to Mike.

"Doesn't do it justice somehow." Mike commented as it was the first time they had heard a name being given to the virus though he did know from Kate that the Russians called it the 'crying death'.

"It's looping around. Here it comes." Mason said to them, the man practically jumping in his seat with the anticipation of it.

_"U.S. James, we are aware of your mission and we have secured the facility you may require. If you are within range of this signal, we urge you to reply over channel 1-6.I repeat, U.S.S. Nathan James, if you are still out there, please reply on V.H.F. channel 1-6." _The woman said, Both Mike and Tom perked up at the call for the ship. Not even Mike could suppress the bubble of hope forming in him at the knowledge that someone out there was looking for them and better yet that they had the facilities to help them.

"Get them on the line." Tom told Mason.

"Yes, sir." Mason said before he turned his full attention to his station as he keyed the console and turned dials. "This is U. S. naval warship Nathan James hailing you on channel 1-6. We have heard your call, over. This is U.S. naval warship Nathan James hailing you on channel 1-6. We have heard your call, over." he said into his headset.

"Baltimore. We should set a course in that direction." Mike said to Tom, after the disaster of Fort Detrick this was good news.

"Agreed." Tom said, Mike headed out of the comms to the bridge to adjust their course. Tom looked to Mason as he was half torn between waiting for a response with Mason or leaving to talk strategy with Mike on the small amount of intel they had.

"We may still be too far out." Ensign Mason said when no response came from the radio channel they were using to make contact.

"You let me know as soon as you find out" Tom said not disparaged by the lack of response. "Good work, son" giving the Ensign a pat on the shoulder to reinforce his praise.

* * *

"So I was right" Kate said to Mike when he returned to his stateroom. She stuck a post it note on the wall and stepped back to look at the 'bigger picture'. Every time the wall grew in size the sicker to her stomach Kate became and the angrier she felt at herself. It wasn't what the wall contained but what it represented. It was the lies, the blatant evidence of her own ignorance and that she had chosen to ignore all of it to begin with.

But then she had wanted a dream; a comfortable life where there were no financial worries, children and the only thing she had master was making the perfect roast and keeping her kids alive long enough for her to eventually suffer empty nest syndrome. That dream was gone and she was left with the crap leftover. The only good thing come out of all of it was that she and Mike were together again. He seemed to be the only thing that was keeping her together.

"About?" Mike asked her as he moved to look at her wall. It was a chaotic mess he would never understand nor why Kate took it all so personally. He could see her anger and fear simmering inside her every time she looked at it. He had to admit that this side of her was one he wasn't used to seeing. He also didn't like it because it felt like she wasn't present in the room and as much as he'd like to reach her. That when it came to the topic of Lassiter Industries and Kate's deceased husband were no go topics much like talking about his wife was. They'd have to discuss it soon but for now he wrapped an arm around Kate's shoulders as she leaned into him.

"The Nathan James is heading for Baltimore" Kate stated as she relaxed against him. Drawing strength and comfort from him as he grounded her back into the real world where all her emotional upsets over Lassiter Industries were put into perspective and easier to swallow.

"How could you-" Mike stopped as he realised she had just been assuming that was where the ship was heading all along. Kate pulled back and turned around is his arms and gave him a smug smile as he fell into the oldest confession traps. "Don't be smug" He told her which basically his way of saying 'Yes'.

"Too late. Hey, do you want to try and call home?" Kate asked him as she pulled away from him and pulled her phone out of her pants pocket offering it to him. He looked at the phone and not for one second was he interested in the offer.

"I already tried, no answer" Mike lied. He hadn't tried, in fact he was avoiding doing so given he wasn't going to be able to get off the ship and find his family and neither was she. So what would calling them do? make him feel helpless at best or worst there would be no answer on the other end which was something he didn't want to think about.

"Yeah but I might better phone coverage than you do. You should give it a try" Kate told him.

"Thank you but no. I would rather hold onto the illusion that they are safe in Deer Park than find out it's not the reality" he told her as he took her phone and tossed it onto the lounge out of their reach. "Have you figured out who's calling you?" he asked changing the topic as he didn't want to talk about his family right in that moment. They were a problem he couldn't fix right in this moment whereas Kate's problems he would at least try to fix. If not he could definitely be successful at distracting herself and himself from thinking about their woes.

"Not yet, but I think I might of heard a voice on the other end before I got static. I was going to ask if I could make a call through CIC using the satellite dish on the roof to boost the signal. I assume that's a thing that can be done" Kate said with a sigh. Mike wasn't entirely sure that what she suggest was possible but it did remind him that his radio was on. So he surreptitiously moved his hand to the walkie on his belt and turned it off. Even he needed some downtime and looking at Kate, they needed and he wanted some uninterrupted time with her.

"Why don't you just let it go?" Mike asked her in a casual manner though inwardly when he was suggesting she let it go he didn't mean just the phone calls. He also meant the wall of crazy and Lassiter Industries. He couldn't help it that a part of him wanted her to not get wrapped up in her dead husband's business or lack thereof when it was so obviously hurting her to do so.

"Because it could be important" Kate said in a banal tone as even she couldn't come up with a good reason. She leaned her back against the wall and gave a shrug but she didn't look happy. Mike pretended to think on her situation for a moment before he stepped forward and closed the space between them.

"It could also be a wrong number" he told her as he cupped her face and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips. He decided a distraction was in order as he knew Kate would dwell on it until the mystery was solved. It was something they seemed to share and right now he wanted to see her smile.

"Come to bed with me" he whispered against her lips. He couldn't help but smile at how glum she looked at the prospect only because she knew they'd only be sleeping.

"Don't you have bridge duty or somewhere to be in like 5 minutes?" Kate asked as she pulled her head away from his to look him in the face. Kissing while it was a good distraction lead to her becoming sexually frustrated and Kate really was at her limit for the day. She was pretty sure she would snap if they kissed and made out for a while only to lead to somewhere a little more exciting only to stop because Mike was called away.

She couldn't help it that she wanted sex. It was a great escapism for her and right now she could use a little release for all her pent up emotions.

"Nope, I'm off duty and we're not going to be near Baltimore for a few hours. Unless there's a major catastrophe we won't be interrupted" Mike said with a smile before he dipped his head, his lips pressed against hers in a soft, slow kiss that set off a delicious curling sensation in her belly. But she felt a slight disappointment knowing she couldn't fully express herself with him.

"Mmm, you should get some sleep" she told him as she pulled back from the kiss.

"Not going to join me?" he asked her, looking hopeful as he really wanted to fool around.

"Maybe later, right now I need to finish this. Maybe go outside, see if I can catch this phone call" Kate told him.

"Alright" Mike said disappointed he gave her one last kiss before going off to bed alone.

* * *

"Captain on the bridge" Jeter announced, those on the bridge acknowledged his presence and went back to their duties as Tom moved to where Jeter stood.

"Where's the XO?" Tom asked Jeter, he had come onto the bridge thinking Mike would be sitting in his chair with a cup of coffee gazing out to the horizon but it wasn't so.

"He's retired for the next few hours. He told me to inform him when we are two hours out from Baltimore. Would you like me to get him?" Jeter asked him, Tom shook his head.

"No, it's fine. Let him sleep" Tom said as he knew Mike was definitely sleeping because he had seen Kate pacing the flight deck with her mobile phone in hand. She seemed engrossed in whoever was trying to call her and judging by the fact she had been wearing a heavy coat which was reserved for flight deck crew in cold weather conditions and shoes. The shoes told him she had been out there for a while and would be continuing to do so for a while. He hadn't stopped to talk to her because he could see she felt defeated and something told him any conversation they would have wouldn't be civil. So he continued on his rounds.

"Something on your mind Captain?" Jeter asked, for one moment Tom was tempted to tell Jeter exactly what was on his mind.

But he stopped himself as he didn't feel right confiding what was bothering him to anyone. Normally he was not a man who found doubts in his ethos yet the last few weeks he was tested and left feeling in doubt of what was the right thing to do. It seemed to be a rather black and white situation according to the rules of conduct he followed and his own upbringing but everything felt incredibly subjective.

He couldn't exactly talk about Mike and Kate's relationship nor could he talk about his confusing attraction to Rachel who was not his wife. They seemed like trivial concerns in the larger picture. The fact that Rachel put things into perspective for him felt unnerving given that Darien was usually the person he went to when he had moral dilemmas of a social nature. Work problems he discussed with Mike or Jeter. But when he was conflicted as work and social problems were now meshed together.

His XO was committing adultery which as a Captain he should act on but he wanted to leave it alone. Not just because Mike was his best friend and he wanted Mike to be happy but he also wanted to prove to Rachel that he wasn't a hard and uncaring person. It led to his other problem of why it seemed important to Tom to prove to Rachel the kind of man he was. That he wasn't always so reactive to every situation or an asshole all the time.

"The silence from Baltimore is unnerving. Mason has been hailing the channel we were told to contact them on and no answer" Tom said choosing the safest of his problems to talk about.

"Well, there could be many reasons. I don't think we should be borrowing trouble just yet" Jeter said in his usual calm manner.

"True, I just want this work out" Tom said but inwardly he didn't just want Baltimore to be a successful move for them. He needed it. He needed someone to defer power to so he could get back to running his ship and more importantly fulfilling his promises to the crew.

"We all do Sir" Jeter said.

* * *

Kate returned to the stateroom and closed the door behind her. Her long walk on the flight deck hadn't done anything to help her mood as the person who had been trying to call her for the past few hours had given up entirely. Leaving Kate with a sick feeling in her stomach that it wasn't a good sign. Wanting to not dwell on her dark thoughts, Kate returned to the stateroom only to be confronted with that damn wall of notes.

She couldn't help but despise it and everything it stood for. If anything she wanted to tear it down but Tom's annoying reminder that something useful could come out of it played in her head. Along with his lame yet successful blackmail of getting her to sift through the information Evan's company had left behind. Exhaustion washed over her from the frustration and lack of productivity the task.

She shook her head trying to stop herself from sinking into the cesspit of emotions Lassiter Industries and thoughts of Jack took her. She didn't want to go there, for not the first time; she wanted to forget. She wanted to revel in something in good and pleasurable without there being a fallout. She kicked off her shoes and headed to the sleeping compartment of the room. Mike, surprisingly was lying on his back; sprawled out on the bed taking up all the space and still fast asleep. She had figured he'd of left by now to go back to work but there he was.

She bit her bottom lip enjoying the sight but also enjoying the places her imagination was going as she wondered if she should wake him or let him sleep on. She decided on the former given she selfishly wanted to have some fun and wake him up. That and she wanted to banish all her problems for just a little while and pretend everything was fine. With her goal set in mind, she shimmied out of her pants and carefully crawled onto the bed.

It didn't take long for Mike notice as the moment Kate was straddling his hips; his eyes snapped open. He reared onto his elbows for a moment as if trying to comprehend what was going on. Once his brain turned on he relaxed back down and a sleepy smile played on his lips.

"Hi" Kate whispered, straddling his hips. She leaned forward and cage him in with her hands on either side of his head.

"Hey" he said still half asleep. He took a deep inhale enjoying the scent of her shampoo and the vague note of sea salt which told him she had been outside. That and her cheeks looked slightly wind-burned. Mike remembered feeling put out about having a quick shower and going to bed alone but he accepted that Kate just like he couldn't be available to one another 24/7. And while he had to admit been put out about going to be alone; waking up like this was definitely good compensation.

"I'm sorry about earlier" Kate said to him, looking genuinely apologetic.

"It's ok" he told her. "So what are you doing?" Mike asked stupidly as he was still half asleep, all he knew was that he was definitely aroused and Kate was straddling in nothing but a t-shirt and her knickers with her hair loose around her shoulders. She was testing his control at the best of time when she was fully clothed but right now it was pure torture.

"Well, I thought I'd give you a wake up call" Kate answered wryly, adoring his sleepy befuddlement. She leaned down so her lips were an inch from his. "But you're awake now. I better get back to work" she said, she gave a smile and Mike felt her weight shift but before she could even lift up from him he grabbed her by the t-shirt and tugged it towards him.

"Hey, don't be so hasty. Still feeling a little sleepy" he informed her, Kate grinned mischievously at him as she settled back onto his groin. He gave a groan at the delicious precious of her hot sex pressed against his covered erection. It took all of Mike's control not to take over as he wanted to see where Kate would take them.

"Oh really?" Kate asked teasingly, a thrill shot through her as she leaned back down kissed him. Slowly. Softly. So she could enjoy the exquisite give of his lips beneath hers. They were warm, supple and parted ever so slightly under hers in a silent invitation for her to taste him. Then Mike's hands came up and cradled her face, taking her off guard for a second. A quiet groan escaped him as he raised his head from the pillow to fuse their mouths together. Kate's lower belly fluttered excitedly in response as she loved the was his hands cradled her face as the gesture was hungry and possessive.

Kate settled in closer, adding more pressure and a hint of tongue as she explored his response and enjoyed his flavour. He must as showered before turning in because he smelt deliciously of sandalwood soap. She made a low sound of appreciation in her throat and deepened the kiss. Caressing and sucking at his tongue. She couldn't wait to reacquaint herself with the rest of him given she was finally in control.

One of Mike's hands moved from her face to slide into her hair and cup the back of her head; holding her close. Satisfied at his reaction and enjoying herself immensely, Kate nibbled at the corner of his mouth and down his strong jaw to his throat.

When he shifted and tried to turn them over, she resisted "No, it's my turn" she whispered against his skin. For a moment she thought he'd argue but instead he exhaled and relaxed beneath her. He tilted his head back to give her more access as he tightened his fingers in her hair. His other hand snaked a hand under her t-shirt reached up and pressed her between her shoulder blades. He was clearly struggling with the concept of letting her have control so the fact he was allowing her to take the reins was incredibly hot.

Her breasts made contact with the hard muscles of his chest. Even with their t-shirts dulling the sensation, a shiver of pleasure sped through her. Her nipples tightened against her sports bra, every brush sent a bolt of pleasure straight to the empty ache making itself known between her thighs. Needing some pressure to relieve the empty sensation, Kate sat up and peeled her t-shirt over her head before she lowered her weight onto the unmistakable ridge of his erection beneath the blanket. Mike sucked in his breath and slid the hand on her spine down to the small of her back, his warm hand burning her skin.

With a cheeky smile she pulled her bra off and tossed it aside. Mike froze in one place, just letting his brain commit the scenery before him to memory as he could definitely get used to waking up as Kate topless and straddling him with that smile.

"Your turn" Kate said as she playfully tugged on his shirt. He didn't protest when she sat up suddenly and grasped the hem of his t-shirt, but his hungry gaze was a little busy taking in her beautifully bare breasts that were poised above his head. Kate didn't miss the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed, she smiled because every time he saw her breasts he made it seem like he'd never seen them before.

"Lift up" she ordered quietly.

Mike immediately raised his upper body off the bed, allowing her to peel his t-shirt up and off him exposing his torso to her avid gaze. He didn't feel as though he was much to look at. Yes, he was fit and had some definition but his days of sporting an 6 pack were long gone but it didn't seem to matter to Kate 5 years ago or even now as she looked at him like he were perfectly cooked piece of fine steak and she was a starved woman. She tossed his shirt off to the side and gave a hum of appreciation then pushed him back so he was lying down.

She bent and pressed a kiss over his thudding heart before she leaned down and settled the soft weight of her breasts against his hot skin. Tiny shocks of pleasure racked through him as he shifted restlessly beneath. Lifting into her body, Kate ignored his body's cues as she placed a string of nibbling kisses across the broad expanse of his chest, pausing to leisurely lick at a tightly beaded nipple.

Mike hissed in a breath as he threaded his fingers into her hair, flexing them against her scalp. The feel of his hands there, seemingly holding her close and urging her on, was sexy as hell. Using her teeth and tongue, she continued to tease him; nipping her way down his abdomen until she reached the hem of his boxers.

His fingers contracted against her scalp as she set a hand over the thick ridge of his cock. Kate gave a soft sound of approval as she was pleased at the way his eager flesh flexed against his hold. She licked the skin just above his boxers and squeezed the solid length of him while her other hand slid into the waistband and tugged downward.

Mike selfishly lifted his hips to help her, hands still wound in her hair as she drew the bowers down just enough to give her access. She grasped him with both hands, his cock; hot and hard, kicking in her grip.

"Kate-" Mike lost all ability to think as his words were replaced with a long and low groan as she parted her lips and took him into her hot mouth, wrapping her tongue around that sensitive spot beneath the ridge. She sucked him slowly and eagerly. Mike arched his back as he head rolled back in ecstasy.

"Oh fuck me" Mike cursed a little too loudly as he fought to breathe from the pleasure blasting through him. With each swirl of her tongue and pull of her tongue; he died just a little. God, he'd been fantasizing this but the reality was something entirely different.

"Shh you have to be quiet" Kate told him teasingly before she continued pleasuring him. A shiver of pleasure ran through her as she liked driving him crazy like this. His hands bunched in her hair, a little less gently now that his control was fraying. His fingers rubbed against her scalp in a drugging caress that made her eyes close in enjoyment. The muscles in his belly were rigid and his breathing was erratic as she sucked him slowly and firmly, working him with her mouth, wanting to make him writhe. Something she was succeeding in with ease.

"Kate-" Mike took a breath as another wave of pleasure ran through him. He was shaking and sweating, when he didn't think he could take it another second without climaxing, he eased her mouth away from him and stared down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glowing with pure hunger. "Come up here" he told her.

Kate's face broke into a Cheshire grin as heat flared in her eyes. She sat up and crawled up to straddle his thighs again. Mike cupped her face between his two hands and looked into her eyes. "You are so fucking beautiful" he told her.

"Yeah well, I'm pretty amazing too" Kate said smugly.

"How so?" he asked her, he really wanted to kiss her but she leaned away from him and pulled the drawer on his bedside table open and pulled out a line of condoms. As surprises go this one had him stunned. "how did you get those?" he asked.

"Do you really want to hear about how I procured condoms?" Kate asked him. Mike shook his head as he took the condoms from her and placed them on the small bedside table and then pulled her under him and was kissing her as it seemed like the only appropriate response. Kate wound her arms around his back, her hands stroking his overheated skin. She raised her head as he lowered his weight onto her, and moaned into his mouth.

Mike kissed her hard and deep, twining his tongue with hers. All excuses he could possibly come up with to stop this, to pull back and try to reign himself in evaporated as Kate's hand wrapped itself around his throbbing cock.

"Mike, I need you inside me" Kate panted arching up against him. Mike was too worked up to slow down now and give her the foreplay she deserved. He'd make it up to her a thousand times later on. Leaning his weight onto one elbow while he reached over and grabbed one of the condoms. This time when he came he wanted to be buried as deep inside her as he could get and feel every pulse of her sex around him.

He reluctantly pulled back from her and quickly stripped off Kate out of her knickers before she watched on with a molten hot look on her face as tore the packet and sheathed himself. He lowered back down onto the bed and caught one of Kate's hands with his interlacing his fingers through hers.

"Mike, please" she begged.

_ Fuck._ Mike thought as he couldn't wait anymore. He levered up on one hand and fitted the crown of his cock against her soft folds. His muscles knotted up, his breathing as unsteady as his pulse. He paused only long enough to look down into Kate's eyes. They were half-closed, dreamy and yet full of anticipation. And he couldn't hold off another goddamn second.

Gripping her hip to hold her steady, he pushed, sliding deep until every inch of his cock was buried inside her. She was so tight and wet, her inner walls rippling around him. Sparks of ecstasy raced up his spine. Helpless against the lash of pleasure, he closed his eyes and moaned as he leaned forward to press his face into the side of her neck, a shudder ripping through him.

It was damn near perfection as he was surrounded by her, enfolded by her heat and softness, her hold on him surprisingly strong. All the years and the bullshit of the outside world and life just went to background as he was right in the moment with her.

"Mike…" Her breathy moan penetrated the fog of lust, but just barely. Not wanting to be a completely selfish bastard, he began to move, starting out in a slow, steady rhythm. He used her sighs and gasps to gauge his movements, making sure to add a little circular motion at the end of the in-stroke to rub his body against her clit. Kate cursed loudly with pleasure at the movement and Mike's lips curved into a smile.

"Shh, you'll alert the ship and I'll have to stop" He teased as he repeated the movement. Kate gave a groan that was a mix of pure pleasure and frustration.

"Don't you fucking dare stop and do that again" Kate warned and demanded him between breaths.

"You mean this?" he asked. He moved his hips again and a loud whimper answered him, her slick inner muscles squeezing around him.

"Yes." Her voice was tight, desperate.

_Any fucking time you want._Mike thought as he gritted his teeth against the need to come, the pleasure already climbing to the critical point. Beneath him Kate rocked in time to his thrusts, the pressure of her fingers in his back and her heels in his ass silently begging him for more. Demanding it.

He let his tightly held control go a little, increasing the force of his thrusts. Her moans, the breathless little cries that echoed through the room drove him into a frenzy. He drove deep, hard. Soon she was clinging, crying out in desperation as he pounded into her. She was right there with him, straining and writhing in his grip, trying to get him closer, deeper.

His tongue trailed a damp path down the side of her neck to where it curved into her shoulder. Kate clutched at him, circling her hips. In a moment of blinding pleasure, she bit down on his shoulder to keep herself from crying out. He felt her sex contract around him, felt the rhythmic pulses as she milked his cock and sobbed in ecstasy. Her release and the sweet, welcoming pain of her teeth sinking into his skin undid him. His hips jackhammered, his body on auto-pilot as the need took over.

"Kate," he gasped out, lost in her and what she was making him orgasm rushed at him, filling every cell before it peaked and held, wringing out his release as his muscles shook and he groaned like a dying man. Through it all Kate cradled him to her, holding him close as it finally faded, her fingers drifting through his hair, over his shoulders and down his back.

"I love you" Kate sighed, Mike lifted his head looked down at her. Her eyes were dreamy and her expression was content which made him feel like he was ten feet tall as he was the one who put that look on her face.

"You know it still doesn't count" Mike told her teasingly, he chuckled as Kate looked incredulous but before she argue he took her mouth in an aggressive and hot kiss.


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

* * *

Tom looked down at the reports on his table, not really reading any of it as he was just trying to busy himself while they waited for whoever was in Baltimore to call back. He really needed the waiting to end as he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything.

"Captain, I've got Baltimore. A Mrs Granderson is on the line." He told Tom, with an excited smile. Tom rose from his chair looking at Ensign Mason with disbelief.

"Did you say Granderson?" Tom asked him, genuinely surprised at the coincidence and wondered if there was any family connection to Lt. Granderson.

"Yes, sir." Ensign Mason replied with a smile. He motioned at Mason and the young man obliged and came into the room.

"Well, put her through" Tom said returning the smile as he gestured to his computer on the desk. Mason didn't need to be told twice as he moved over to the computer. Tom stood back trying to contain his joy that there was finally a response and judging by Mason's face it was good news. Something Tom needed to keep coming their way.

"They're trying to use the vidcom, but so far it can only get audio, sir." Mason said as he typed into the keyboard transferring the call from comms room to the Captain's computer. The screen went black but Mason continued to work the keyboard typing in unintelligible garbage that Tom didn't comprehend. "Go ahead, sir." Mason told.

"This is Tom Chandler, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Nathan James, over." Tom said, speaking loudly and clearly so he would be hopefully be heard on the other end. A low squealing noise and static came from the speakers for a few seconds before a disembodied female voice came through.

"Captain Chandler." A female voice came through the speakers. She sounded utterly relieved and she wasn't alone in that feeling. It sounded like she was shouting from a far distance but Tom knew it was just a dodgy connection. "You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice. We thought you were lost at sea." She said, though she was just a black screen but Mason continued to work.

"No, ma'am, we're alive and well." Tom answered, a smile playing on his lips as he couldn't help but feel joy at hearing her voice.

"I got it" Mason said as a picture appeared on the screen it was of an African American woman who looked to be in her late 40s early 50s short hair; stylishly cropped in a bob. She had a rather regal air about her the bespoke of a background in Politics, that and how well dressed and her general demeanour gave her away. For a woman who had survived the end of the world, she looked well put together not that Tom would begrudge her abilities.

"Oh! There you are." She said giving Tom a warm and excited smile. "You must be nearby. I'm Amy Granderson." She said introducing herself. Tom could see the family resemblance between his Lieutenant the older woman on the screen as they had the same smile. Mason stepped back as Tom moved to the chair in front of the computer and sat down.

"And I suppose an explanation is in order. As vice-chair of the President's defence policy board, I was briefed on your mission to the Arctic. I knew the risks of the coming pandemic, and I had my daughter transferred to your ship. You must forgive me." Mrs Granderson said to him, apologising sincerely. Tom felt a sense of comfort and relief knowing that someone from the government survived and a friend at that given she was Lt Granderson's mother. It meant by extension she was family to all of them. Thus in his mind could be trusted. Tom looked to Mason.

"Go get Granderson and inform Commander Slattery" Tom told him. Mason nodded and dashed out of the room as Tom turned his attention back to the computer.

"No apology needed, Ma'am. Your daughter's been an incredible asset. Pleased to hear from you. We had no word from the Presidential bunker." Tom said as he kept his attention on the screen. The picture was growing fuzzy and breaking up every few seconds which made him wonder how strong the connection of the vidcom was and how long they'd be able to talk. He hoped it would be long enough to garner enough intelligence to start making solid plans.

"President Geller invited me underground. I declined. I-" The connection flickered and Mrs Granderson frowned "I felt the risk was too big to have so much of our civilian and military command in one confined space. Unfortunately, I was right." Mrs Granderson said gravelly, confirming some of Tom's worst fears.

"So the government is gone?" Tom asked, needing know everything she knew on what was going on politically speaking in their country so he could prepare himself and the crew. He had hoped for better.

"For the most part, yes. Since the bunker went silent, there has been a breakdown of infrastructure, general panic, and, of course, a tremendous loss of life."she paused and for a moment Tom could feel the sense of helplessness exude from the woman at the situation she was in. "I have tried to execute a contingency plan working with the state and local police to create safe zones. We have been hanging on as best we can and I have been praying every day for your return." She told him, he could see that the Nathan James was a beacon of hope for her and they could form a productive team.

"Ma'am, we can be in Baltimore in the matter of hours." Tom informed her. Mrs Granderson smiled at the news.

"That is some excellent news. I'm also curious is Kathryn Lassiter still alive and on your ship?" Granderson asked, Tom felt something deaden in him at the mention of Kate's name.

"She is" Tom answered keeping his tone firm and face neutral. He couldn't help but wonder what Mrs Granderson would want with Kate let alone want to speak with her about before even asking about her own daughter's welfare. He squashed that niggle of doubt that it grew as obviously there was a sense of priority in play that he didn't know. He had counted on Mrs Granderson wanting to speak with her daughter then maybe Dr Scott but not Kate.

"I'd like to have a word with her in private if I could" Granderson said to him.

"I can organise that but in the meantime, I'm sure there is someone else you'd like to speak with." Tom said as the door opened and Lt Granderson stepped in. Tom pushed back his chair and watched for a moment as Lt Granderson rushed the screen smiling as she greeted her mother. He stayed for a moment before he stepped out of view of the computer's web cam and gestured to Mason to leave with him so as to allow Lt Granderson and her mother some time together.

* * *

Once outside, Tom turned to Mason and said "Go get Lassiter for me" he told the young man.

"Yes, Sir" Mason said, he stopped for a moment as if trying to decide which direction to go when Mike spoke.

"She's in the wardroom" Mike informed Mason as he'd just shown up as Tom gave the order. Mason acknowledged the order and went off in the direction of the wardroom to collect Kate.

Tom frowned as Mike had come from the opposite direction which made him wonder how the man knew where Kate was but felt it was wiser not to ask. He looked at Mike noting that the man looked a lot brighter than he had left Tom in the Comms room to change the Ship's course to Baltimore. Obviously the sleep had done the man some good or at least Tom was going to pretend that it was the sleep as he didn't want or need visuals of Mike and Kate having sex in his head.

"Mason bring you up to speed?" Tom asked Mike.

"Lt Granderson's mother is on the line from Baltimore" Mike said, Tom nodded as that pretty much summed up what Mason knew.

"Yeah but there's a catch" Tom said, not pleased at all by the bad feeling forming in his gut.

"There always is" Mike said.

"She wants to speak with Lassiter" Tom told him, Mike frowned as he like Tom seemed be confused as to why.

"Why?" Mike asked. He maintained his usual calm and professional manner on the outside while inwardly his happy 'I got laid' vibes were deadened and replaced with concern for Kate. He knew it had to do with her late husband, it was a bad stink that was going to follow her around and keep her in a bad mood. It was a shame given she was pretty satisfied and happy when he was rushing to get cleaned up to meet Tom. He tried not to smile as he was feeling damn pleased with himself for breaking the rules which should have left him feeling guilty but he wasn't. He couldn't even muster an iota of guilt. Either way it wasn't relevant to situation at hand as Kate was being summoned by Mrs Granderson who if Mike recalled was prominent member of the government.

"I have no clue but she wanted to do it before speaking with her own daughter" Tom said feeling a strong disapproval on where the woman's priorities lay. If it were him on the other end he'd want to speak with his daughter first and then talk business.

"You summoned me" Kate asked in a casual tone as she walked up to Mike and Tom. She looked a little better than she did the last time he saw her, that random about her and Mike fraternising entered his mind again but he squashed it as he had more important matters.

"Amy Granderson" Tom said, he said it because he wanted to see Kate's reaction to the name but he saw was confusion.

"Mason said Lt Granderson's mum was chatting with you. I assume that's her name right?" Kate asked wondering what exactly Tom was expecting her to say or do as she could see he was searching her face for something. He looked at her for a long moment before he spoke.

"It is, she's speaking with her daughter at the moment. She's the vice chair to the President's defence board and she wants to speak with you privately" Tom said to Kate and once again he could see that everything he said was meaningless to her. Even though it annoyed him to no end it was also slightly comforting to see Kate's vacant expression when he mentioned these things because it meant that Kate hadn't found anything in the information from Lassiter Industries which had to be a good thing.

"Why?" Kate asked him.

"You tell me? Maybe she knew Evan?" Tom offered but obviously she misinterpreted his tone as her eyes narrowed in annoyance and her posture became defensive.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to pack my Ouija board so we could bring Evan into this conversation because I sure as shit don't know why" Kate said a little too scathingly given that Tom wasn't trying to pick a fight. His earlier moment of thinking that Mike and Kate were having sex was quickly squashed as he'd like to believe anyone getting laid would be a lot happier.

"I'm not picking a fight or interrogating you. so could you keep your tone down and speak with polite language?" Tom asked her as he could feel their conversation slowly dissolve into a fight. He made a mental note on trying to develop some strategies to improve their relationship given that Kate was going to be sticking around longer than he expected or wanted. Especially given that Mike was wrapped up in the woman.

"Ok. I do not know her, I have no idea what she would want to talk to me about and no, I do not want to talk to her to find out" Kate said answering the next couple questions she assumed he was going to ask her.

"Why not?" Tom asked her, he knew it was a stupid question but he had to ask because if their positions were reversed he'd be very interested in finding out.

"Seriously?" Kate asked incredulously.

"No, I just ask these questions to annoy you for my own amusement" he deadpanned. Kate blew out a breath as she ran a hand through her hair. He could see she was using the time to gain some measured control on her emotions as it was clear to see she scared. Of what he didn't know which was why he asked the questions. It didn't help that bad feeling in his gut when the normally confident woman looked ready to fall apart with a simple request of having a conversation with a stranger.

"Given what happened on the Vyerni. I'm not too excited to make friends with anyone who calls me by my proper first name given they never turn out to be my friend. So excuse me if I don't want this woman to put a name to a face" She said to him. Tom quirked an eyebrow at Kate's paranoid attitude. He briefly looked to Mike but the man was wearing a rather neutral expression which meant he wasn't going to be any help to Tom in any regard at the moment. But then Mike wasn't exactly helping Kate either which kind of made Tom feel a little better.

"If she has your name then she'll probably know your face. I'm sorry but I need to know what she wants from you and to do that. I need you to talk to her." Tom told her. Kate was about to argue with him but before she could the door opened. Kate turned away and put her hands on her hips as Lt Granderson stuck her head out of the open doorway.

"Captain, Mrs Granderson would like a word with Kate. She's pretty insistent on speaking with Lassiter before they lose the connection on their end. It's getting rather spotty" Lt Granderson informed them. Tom gave a nod acknowledging that he heard what she was saying but really he needed to stall Amy Granderson since it seemed he had to convince Kate to just sit down with woman.

"Tell her we need a couple more minutes and take the time for a proper good bye Lieutenant" Tom told the Lieutenant. The woman gave a him a grateful smile and disappeared back into the room. Tom looked to Mike.

"Go with her, if Mrs Granderson gets pushy step in and dismiss the lieutenant" Tom told him, he didn't need his Lieutenant upset because her mother was pushing her agenda. Whatever that agenda was.

"Yes, sir" Mike said as he stepped into the stateroom and closed the door leaving Kate and Tom in the corridor alone. He took a moment to choose his words carefully before he spoke.

"Ruskov was our enemy, what happened on the Vyerni is not happening here. Mrs Granderson is a politician from what is left of my government, she's the only one who can guide us from here on out. She has the facilities we need to produce the vaccine that will cure what is left of this world. We-" Tom stopped and corrected himself. "I need her, I need this to work not just for me but my crew. So I'm going to ask you to please go back into that room and talk to the woman. Hear her out. It could be nothing more than her sharing her condolences with you" Tom said to Kate as he felt her fears were probably due to her thinking the worst of people. He didn't blame her for being scared even if it was irrational to him because he didn't know the entirety of what happened on the Vyerni but given how they found her. Something told him he didn't want to ever delve into that with Kate.

"Ruskov was Jack's friend, he offered me condolences by stealing my boots and offering me Vodka. We all know how the rest of that night went" Kate said in a deadened tone. Tom couldn't deny her statement as only she seemed to know the truth on that one.

"Please just do this for me as favour" Tom said to her. Kate wore an uncomfortable expression as she seemingly struggled on saying yes to his request. But then a moment passed and she spoke.

"Fine but I want to cash in my favour today" Kate told.

"What do you want?" Tom asked folding his arms as he was willing to hear her out but not to agree just yet.

"I do this and I wash my hands of Lassiter Industries. I don't care what she says or what happens in the future. I'm out, you find someone else to trawl through all that data for you. I also want you to keep your accusations and suppositions about Lassiter Industries to yourself. In fact, just forget that I was ever involved with that asshole and his company." Kate told him, Tom inwardly was relieved as she solved one of his earlier dilemmas as the stipulation she made was one he could agree to.

"Ok, done" he told her, Kate reared back as she obviously expected him to fight her on it. He inwardly felt a little pleased that he'd one upped her but also glad that her favour meant removing a major issue between them. It didn't resolve anything but it would help ease the tension as long as Mrs Granderson didn't open up a can of worms.

"Fine, let's get this over with" Kate said, Tom nodded and opened the door to his stateroom and pushed it open. He gestured for Kate to go back into the stateroom. Kate woodenly stepped into the room just as Lt Granderson gave a teary eyed yet joyful goodbye to her mother before she rose from the chair. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened her uniform shirt before she quietly made her way out of the room with Mason behind her.

"Have a seat" Tom said to her, he watched her closely to see her reaction of seeing Amy Granderson. He wasn't sure what he was expecting maybe recognition but Kate just looked lost and unsure as she sat down. She looked at the screen as Tom pulled up another chair and sat down. She could see Mike standing against the closed door in her peripheral vision.

"Kathryn Lassiter, it's been a while but I'm so glad to see you" Amy said warmly greeting Kate like they were old friends.

"I'm sorry, but do we know one another?" Kate asked her, because it was true; she had never met the woman on the screen. She felt no qualms in being rude to her.

"We did, it was a charity event nearly 8 months ago. You were in attendance with Evan" Mrs Granderson told her with a warm smile like they were old friends. Anger furled within Kate as she realised the woman was either a friend of Jack's or Evan's either way it was about Lassiter Industries. Everything was about power and Kate hated being the 'toy' everyone needed to attain said power from the knowledge gathered by Lassiter Industries.

"I apologise but I have no recollection of the evening but then I was probably very drunk" Kate said in a blunt tone.

"No apologies needed even I understand that a lot champagne is the only way to survive those boorish evenings" Mrs Granderson said as if commiserating with Kate.

"So why do you want to speak with me?" Kate asked cutting a lot of unnecessary conversation out of the way as she didn't want Mrs Granderson regaling her of a night where she was nothing but a piece of arm candy. All she remembered from those galas was all the arse kissing Jack and Evan got while she was invisible after the first pleasantries were exchanged. The last charity events she had attended after Jack's death at Evan's request were completely unmemorable due to her drinking and spending majority of the evening outside the party at the hotel bar, alone. The way she liked it as she despised the pretentious atmosphere even if it raised large amounts of money for the less fortunate.

"I was hoping we could speak alone" Mrs Granderson said to Kate.

"I'd rather we didn't. I still recovering from a mild concussion as a result of a rough sea landing. So I hope you can understand I'm a little cranky at being brought up here to chat with someone I don't know when I'd rather be sleeping" Kate said getting crabby, at first Kate planned it to be an 'act' but her crabbiness was genuine as she figured after the call Tom was going to go all 'Conspiracy theory' on her ass and start accusing her of something Jack and Evan did. Something she was really sick of as she was sure Tom was too given their tenuous relationship.

"Oh my, the Captain didn't say anything" Mrs Granderson said.

"The Captain is too polite for his own good. So I suggest we skip the small talk and get straight to what you want so I can get back to my rack and get some sleep" Kate told her, the woman's eyes narrowed in slight annoyance that Kate could only assume was due to her crass language and her dismissive and blunt manner. But then again the woman was probably sizing Kate up because she broke into a somewhat awkward smile and threw her hands up in mock surrender.

"Of course as you know you're the CEO for one of the largest companies in the United States with multiple military contracts as well as many subsidiary companies. The facilities we've managed to secure that the Nathan James needs for vaccine production is a subsidiary company of Lassiter Industries but we're unable to access the entirety of the complex as we need the skeleton key" Mrs Granderson told Kate, Tom looked to Kate and watched as the woman feigned a headache as she had closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers across her forehead but the fact she had her left hand was in a tight fist in her lap told him she was struggling to keep herself in check.

Kate tried to keep her breath steady as she pretended like she was suffering a migraine when really she was trying to calm her jangled nerves. She wanted to know why Granderson knew about the skeleton key which in reality was just Kate's access codes because she was currently the highest ranking member of the corporation. Fear and pure rage suffocated her as she thought of Anna and how the labs Granderson was speaking about were supposed to be downed. How did the woman have access? What was she trying to access? And how did Granderson know she was on the Nathan James? So many questions and none she could ask without giving away her hand. She was hoping to play stupid that maybe it would filter through that she was nothing but a pretty face and the power to be gained from Lassiter Industries was lost when Evan died.

"Kathryn?" Granderson prompted, Kate looked at her and watched as the picture before her flickered and rolled. Her left hand turned into a fist on her leg as she was trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. The painful bite of her nails into her palm seemed to ground her and allow her some control over her emotions but not much.

"I'm sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about. You should be speaking with Evan about this. He's the one in charge not me" Kate said to her, she watched as confusion crossed Mrs Granderson's features. Obviously it wasn't the response she was expecting but Kate was not going to give the woman anything. She didn't care if she was one of the good guys, Kate had her own future to protect and playing stupid was the only way she could see herself being seen as useless and then forgotten.

"You don't know?" Mrs Granderson asked in a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"Know what?" Kate asked feeding to what she hoped Granderson would believe, that Kate was truly useless to whatever grand plan she had that she felt she needed Kate's codes or the 'skeleton key' as Granderson called it to do what she needed and Kate didn't want to know either.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but Evan Lassiter is dead" Mrs Granderson said, Tom was inwardly amazed as he watched Kate's face paled, her body shook as tears formed in her eyes. If he didn't know better he would have thought Kate was hearing this news for the first time and trying hard not to break down. But then he looked down at her hand on her leg and saw it was in a tight fist; so tight that her knuckles had turned white. He realised then her tears and emotions were derived not from sadness or grief but anger.

"No, I-" Kate stopped and looked away from the screen and took a breath trying to calm herself. "When did he pass?" Kate asked her as she knew it was the right question to ask.

"A few weeks ago now, Evan sent you message before his death" Mrs Granderson told her, probably hoping for some flair of recognition in Kate's expression but Kate gave no indication whatsoever.

"He did?" Kate asked stupidly because there was nothing better she could say. Mrs Granderson looked to Tom for an explanation as if he were the one at fault when Kate just tangled them up in a nice web of lies.

"We've been out of Comms range of home for the last few months Ma'am. Your call is the first one we've heard in months directed to ship" Tom explained backing up Kate's lie to Granderson. She was surprised given his plea earlier to allow this meeting with Granderson to be something good. An ally they desperately needed.

"Then you don't know anythi-" Amy Granderson started but her image flickered and disappeared.

"Mrs Granderson?" Tom asked, he picked up the phone and dialled a number. "We've lost the VIDCOM, is the line still active?" Tom asked, he listened for a moment and watched as his screen return to its previous screen whilst Mason told him the connection was lost. Tom acknowledged the information and ordered they keep hailing the channel to get Mrs Granderson back before hung up the phone before he looked to Kate. She was slouching in her chair with her arms folded, she looked to him with expectation.

"Want to explain yourself?" Tom asked Kate as he sat back in chair nearly mirroring her posture except he didn't slouch.

"I don't know her" Kate told him in a flat and serious tone so he would hopefully take her seriously.

"But you lied to her, a stranger with great ease" Tom said, which unnerved him somewhat given how well she had lied at least from the neck up. The rest of her body gave away her true feelings on the matter.

"I did, you have a problem with that?" Kate asked him, purposefully goading him into a fight. It seemed her go to defence mechanism at the moment.

"No but I'm wondering what she meant by a skeleton key" Tom told her, since he knew why she lied he didn't need to push that line of questioning about the whys on that one as he wasn't ready to delve into her emotional issues or paranoia about Lassiter Industries.

"I assume the CEO's access codes can act like a skeleton key opening anything from restricted files to buildings that are in lockdown which is why she wants to be my friend. In the event of Evan and Jack's death I became the CEO, I have no idea how it all works on the technological side. How do computers know when someone has died?" Kate asked him, Tom gave a shrug as he didn't know other than the obvious answer that the information was imput into the computer to allow for update. Something Evan probably did when he knew he was going to die.

"She asked because she needs the codes to unlock the laboratories or certain parts of it that we may need to produce the vaccine" Tom said to Kate, he could see Kate was anxious to leave.

"I guess so and I wasn't hiding that information either so don't even think about accusing me of that" Kate told him.

"I wasn't going to accuse you of anything" Tom told her.

"Really?" Kate asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you had the conversation with her like I asked you to. Why would I go back on my word?" Tom asked her.

"Cause you can be a capricious asshole" Kate told him and Tom gave a closed lip smile.

"And you're an insolent brat with a huge chip on her shoulder. If we're finished with the name calling, I'd like a word with Mike in private" Tom said dismissing her before they could even dissolve into an argument.

"Ok" Kate said, she rose to her feet and left the room feeling slightly disconcerted by the fact that she and Tom hadn't ended up in a shouting match.

* * *

"We'll be near Baltimore just after lunch" Tom said to Mike who closed the door for Kate. tom couldn't help but feel relieved to have Kate leave as the tension in the room disappeared completely.

"I know" Mike said to him as he sat down in his usual chair. Tom couldn't help but be amazed at Mike's ability to remain calm under pressure. He had kept waiting for Mike step in and censure either Kate or himself but no; he just remained silent. It worried Tom given he really didn't want to get punched in the face by Mike. It had happened before and it was not experience he wanted to repeat.

"I also don't want to dock the ship at the port, instead I want to keep the Nathan James out in the harbour and take the RIB to the location Granderson's people will eventually send us" Tom said, talking out the logistics even though they already had done so earlier and they'd worked together long enough that they didn't have to discuss every minute detail as Mike could usually predict most of Tom's decisions.

"All sounds good to me" Mike said as he wondered why Tom was making conversation for the sake of it.

"Ok, so are we going to talk about what just happened?" Tom asked him. Mike quirked an eyebrow at the question as if confused to why Tom was asking the question.

"Calling her a brat is really going to win her over if that was your plan" Mike told him sarcastically assuming Tom was talking about Kate. It was the only topic that Tom seemed incredibly hesitant speaking about given how volatile the subject could be.

"She needed to hear it" Tom told him. Mike nodded in agreement as he tended to stay neutral where Kate and Tom were concerned.

"She's burning out, what she needs to hear that you trust her and that she can quit wallpapering my quarters and take a break without getting the third degree"

"You have to admit it's suspicious how Lassiter Industries keeps popping up" Tom said.

"Sure but Kate's involvement is purely coincidental. Holding her accountable for a company's past wrongdoings and its future potential because some asshole died and left it to her hardly makes her the criminal. Tell me should we be warning the lowliest crew member that if we fuck up then it's his or her fault and she's going to have to face the punishment for it?" Mike asked in a calm manner and before Tom could answer Mike continued.

"And while on the subject of Lassiter Industries; we haven't been utilising any information derived from the company since the Vyerni. Yet she's decorated my stateroom wall like a crazy person and it grows. I'd like that stop considering it's not helping anyone" he finished, he was a little proud of himself for not sounding angry and remaining relatively calm given he wanted Kate to be happy and Lassiter Industries was definitely hampering her good mood. He also knew shouting never accomplished anything other than making the person who was shouting feel a little better.

"Fine with me" Tom said, Mike narrowed his eyes suspicious of Tom's quick agreement.

"That was too easy" Mike said, Tom gave a shrug.

"I already made a deal with Kate about it before we sat down with Granderson. She's scared and hurt, the anger is a defence mechanism." Tom said in a thoughtful manner.

"I know, I was just wondering how long it would take you to cotton on" Mike said with a wry smile, Tom shook his head in dismay as he couldn't catch a break today.

"Is this why you didn't step in and defend her earlier? I know if you spoke to Darien the way I spoke to her-" Tom started but Mike cut him off.

"You two need to figure out how to deal with one another" Mike told him diplomatically but also being incredibly honest.

"But you care about her" Tom said.

"And I'm smart enough to know Kate doesn't need me to fight her battles for her. I also don't think the two of you getting pissy at one another like a couple of very cranky two year olds merits my attention or need to intervene" Mike said as he gave him a 'Aren't we all above this kind of behaviour' look.

"I wasn't-" Tom started to argue that he didn't act like a petulant child but Mike shot Tom a look of mild disbelief. "Nevermind" Tom said conceding that he really had no ground to stand on.

"Ok, we done for now?" Mike asked. Tom nodded and Mike rose from his seat he moved to the door but before he turned the handle to open it Tom spoke.

"She loves you and I'm going to turn a blind eye to whatever you two are doing because I don't want nor have the energy to deal with you two fraternising. Just don't end like Forster and Green" Tom said begrudgingly, he hated that he said it but he felt it needed to be said so Tom wouldn't have to bring it up again. Mike looked at him for a long moment with his hand still on the door handle.

"Oh so now I have permission to have sex. That's good to know though I'm amazed you didn't throw condoms at me with your advice" Mike said drawled sarcastically, it was a good sign to Tom as he knew when Mike held his tongue it usually indicated something worse.

"I didn't want to encourage you" Tom said dryly. Mike's lips quirked with a faint smile. "So don't make me change my mind. I could demote and make an example of you" Tom told him.

"but then who would you replace me with? Garnett or Barker?" Mike asked him, Tom made a face as much as he respected Garnett and Barker he had no real desire to build the working relationship he had with Mike.

"Just go and don't tell me anything that I don't need to know ok?" Tom told him.

"Isn't that what I always do?" Mike asked him, he opened the door and left Tom's stateroom; closing the door behind him, leaving Tom to his thoughts.


	53. Chapter 53

_A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers for taking the time to give me feedback! I love them and they fuel my writing :-D .. Please continue to enjoy_

* * *

**Chapter 53**

* * *

"Hey" Kate said in greeting when Mike returned to his stateroom. He figured his room would be a mess of torn up paper and Kate a crying mess. He was expecting a meltdown and yet she was standing there rather calmly looking at the wall. If anything it worried him even more as he had no clue what to expect from her.

"You alright?" He asked her, as he secured the door behind him. He really wished he could kick off his boots and relax but he had a feeling he was going to be called away soon.

"I could ask you the same question" Kate said with a wry smile as she looked at the wall. She was trying to figure out where to start in her task of pulling it down but part of her was afraid Tom was going to back on his word. That she'd only dismantle it all and have to put it back together.

"I'm fine" he said as he moved to stand behind her and placed a kiss on the side of her neck.

"You were awfully quiet back there. I figured you were rethinking the whole relationship thing given we definitely broke your 'no sex' rule" Kate said turning around to face him.

He had practically jumped out of bed like it was on fire when Ensign Mason knocked on the door to inform Mike, the the Captain wanted to see him. Which of course was just after he had started to kiss her to distraction so they wouldn't argue about her declaration of 'I love you' and him telling her it didn't count. She couldn't help it that she became overwhelmed but her ego died just a little when he dismissed it so off handedly.

So OK, she was totally fine with him kissing her in a way that made her toes curl with pleasure and while she understood he had his duties and would have to go to work instead of sexing her up. She would have liked him to look a little disappointed, if not incredibly reluctant to leave bed instead of looking like a man saved from a fate worse than death. Maybe, she was being a little too sensitive about it but she just felt edgy about the call with Granderson and it was alot to ask Mike to take on her problems with Lassiter Industries too when he had enough of his own.

"No, I was quiet because I'm not getting in between you and Tom until it affects the ship." Mike told her. She looked thoughtful for a moment before she gave a closed lip smile. She was kind of glad he wasn't taking sides between her and his best friend. She never wanted to be the woman who made ultimatums in relationships but that was probably because she knew she'd just end up losing and it was easier to compromise especially when it was a matter pride and Mike's duty to the ship and it's crew was definitely under that heading.

"And then you choose the ship?" Kate asked him, Mike knew normally if a woman asked that question like that it was a test of the relationship, a trap. Hell, even now it felt like a trap but he knew honesty was the best policy especially in their relationship. They didn't have a lot of wiggle room for mistakes or miscommunication.

"Yes, someone has to think of the greater good" he said half seriously. Kate chuckled and gave a half a shrug.

"Fair enough" Kate said with an amused smile, he inwardly gave a sigh of relief as she didn't even look annoyed at the response. He slid his hands around her waist pulling her closer to him.

"Now as for breaking the 'no sex' rule; you didn't make me do anything I didn't want to do and I should probably be feeling guilty or angry but I don't. In fact I wouldn't mind repeating the experience or getting back to where we left things off before we were interrupted" he told her as he moved in to kiss her but she pulled her lips away just before he could.

"I've woken the beast" Kate drawled sarcastically. His grin grew as there were many cliché comebacks rich with sexual connotations to be used but he refrained; opting to be serious for the moment.

"So, you ok with everything and the rule breaking?" he asked her.

"You and me? yeah, we're good" Kate gestured between them before gesturing to the wall behind her "All that, not so much" she told him.

Mike looked at the wall behind her, he took a deep breath as he was about to say something he rarely said to anyone. He looked to Kate and moved one hand to cup her chin; lifting her face so as get her to look at him.

"You know you can talk to me about anything including that wall" He told her. Kate gave a sardonic laugh and shook her head as she pulled away from him, putting space between them. They had subjects they didn't touch on like she never brought up his wife and he didn't talk about Lassiter Industries and her deceased husband. They were sore spots and yet Mike decided it obviously time to press on them.

"Yeah like you really want to know that I'm neck deep in a mess of my dead husband's creation." Kate scoffed. Mike had to admit she hit the nail on the head with that one. She was right in that he didn't want to talk about her husband as he preferred their baggage stay unopened and unacknowledged but it wasn't an option.

"Or want to know that I spend my time being constantly reminded about all the lies he told me, all the things I wanted to ignore because I wanted a normal life. A life I never got, instead I'm reminded on a daily basis of the violation of my person and my friend's, how little privacy I have left" Kate said, she spoke in a low voice as shouting would only be heard through the walls.

"Kate" Mike said but Kate stopped and looked at him.

"What?" she asked him.

"Didn't Tom let you off the hook?" he asked her. Kate threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Yeah but who knows how long that will last and seriously I was enjoying my sex buzz before all of this was brought up and Granderson called asking for me. I'm sick of it all. I just want to forget it all and focus on anything but Lassiter Industries and Jack. I don't want to think about it at all" Kate told him.

"That can be easily fixed" he told her, as it wasn't like Tom hadn't told her she couldn't give it up and now he had a better understanding of what Lassiter Industries meant to her. She hated it with a vengeance and her dead husband. He knew he shouldn't be pleased about Kate being disillusioned by her life but he liked that she wasn't heartbroken in the sense that he'd be having to compete with her husband. He just had to make sure he didn't make the same mistakes which he knew he was safe from making.

"What? the shit storm of Lassiter Industries or my sex buzz?" Kate asked him. Mike gave a dry smile at her comment about sex, every time she said it; it just reminded him of how a little while ago they were enjoying it and how much he hungered to repeat the experience again and again. But right now he felt her emotional upheaval over Lassiter Industries was more important.

"You can't control the situation with Lassiter Industries. It will come up but we can handle that when it does but for now Tom has let you off the hook. In my opinion, I didn't think you should have been held responsible or even have to look at this stuff. But that's not relevant any more. What is relevant is that you've been given an out. Take it, pack up all this stuff and let it go." he told her, he had planned to say he could fix her lack of a sex buzz but knew it was only a quick fix. What Kate needed to be reassured that she could move forward. Preferably towards him whilst removing her clothes right now.

"Ok" Kate said feeling a little lost as she had expected an argument to ensue and was geared up to fight. For him to tell her to keep at what she was doing in case Tom did change his mind. To maybe agree that it was her responsibility to keep sifting through the crap of Lassiter Industries or something to that effect only for him to be stop her short with relatively sound advice. It was kind of helpful but it also made her feel a little deflated and unsure of herself.

"What about my sex buzz?" Kate asked, she watched as Mike wore an unreadable expression and shook his head at her. But in fact what she didn't know was that he was trying very hard not to burst out laughing as she looked too vulnerable not to take it personally.

"What?" she asked feeling a little defensive and confused by his non-verbal response.

"You're a one of kind" Mike told her.

"I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing" Kate grumbled into his chest as she assumed that a guy would take her vulnerability as a great time to pounce on her for sex. She knew she could use some relief, Mike must have read her mind as he smiled at her.

"Come here" Mike told her, he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and waist pulling her to him once again. A warm sense of comfort washed over him holding her close but also a zing of anticipation and excitement. He was human after all, he couldn't just hold Kate in his arms and feel nothing.

"I'm sorry for being a head case" Kate mumbled as she slid her arms around him.

"If you want to apologise for something, you can apologise for biting me earlier. Now that hurt" he told her jokingly, referring the bite mark on his shoulder she had given him in her effort not to be noisy as she climax. It was like a badge of honour and just the memory of that moment when she did bite him was turning him on.

"Please you enjoyed it" Kate scoffed as she pulled her face back to get a better look at him.

"Maybe a little" he said downplaying it just to provoke Kate. She narrowed her eyes at him, whilst he gave her an innocent 'what you going to do about?' look.

* * *

"Doc" Tom said in greeting as Rachel came out of the makeshift lab carrying a CDC container. The lab itself was nearly all packed up and ready to go. From the looks of it , they just had to take the tent down the job would be done and he'd have his helo bay back. It would have been a good thing given he liked having two Helos on board but the sacrifice had been worth it. But right now it gave a sense of finality to his relationship with Rachel given that in a matter of hours they would be parting ways. He had no idea what he'd be doing but that depended on Granderson and her plans. That and if he agreed with said plans but she seemed like a competent woman, a natural leader that he could get behind.

"Captain" she said, she moved to the table by the wall and placed the container on it. She used her cold tone, the one he had learned from months of coming into the room meant she didn't want him around because she didn't want to be interrupted by him. He felt a twinge of annoyance at wanting a warmer welcome. They lapsed into an awkward silence as Tom couldn't help but get distracted by her. The graceful movement of her body, the way her long hair created a curtain as it fell from her shoulders... Tom immediately shut down the thoughts as they started leading into an area of his brain that was reserved only for his wife.

"I wanted to let you in on the situation" Tom said, breaking the tenable silence between them. Wishing not for the first time he could just say what he wanted to instead of acting like a decent human being.

"How we are heading to Baltimore since coming into contact with Mrs Granderson?" Rachel asked as she moved to the computer and started sifting through the screens for something. He had no idea what and figured it was more of a distraction than anything else.

"Yes" Tom said frowning as he wondered how she knew.

"Tex informed me" Rachel said answering the question, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of annoyance at not being the first one to share the news with her. But given it had been an hour or so since they had last contact with Granderson and her people. It was unrealistic to believe the news wouldn't be shared between the crew.

"I want you to come with me after my men have secure the dock as I'm sure you'd like to see the labs Mrs Granderson has secured to manufacture the vaccine" he said trying to keep his tone casual as it was up to Rachel if she wanted to go.

"You must be relieved to know that I'll soon be off the ship and someone else's responsibility" Rachel said wryly, as she closed down the windows on the computer screen and turned off the computer.

"Actually I was thinking about how I was going to miss all of this" Tom confessed even if it sounded somewhat reluctantly said. Rachel stepped back from the computer and looked directly at him and quirked an eyebrow as she hadn't expected him to say so given they spent most of the past few months railing against one another.

"Really? You have a funny way of showing it" Rachel commented, especially given the invisible line they tiptoed and slightly stepped over once if one didn't count the almost kiss after she had managed to save the lives of those in the tent. The kiss on the Vyerni counted as stepping over the line. It might of been necessary for her to pass along the message but she remembered him kissing her back and for longer than necessary. She also knew she could have kissed Tex. The man fraught with less entanglements, the man who made her smile and laugh when she felt beaten down by the world but at the time Rachel couldn't deny herself the chance to kiss Tom. Not that she would ever admit that out loud.

Tom took a moment and nodded looking thoughtful as he knew in some ways she was antagonising him. She wanted him to react but he wasn't entirely sure what either of them would get out of it. Especially given the circumstances that they would be parting ways and he was most definitely finding his wife and kids.

"I know I give a lot of mixed messages but I want you to know that I deeply respect you and I'm grateful for your hard work" Tom said, he hated how stilted the words felt as they came out of his mouth but he didn't have the guts to say what he wanted to say. That and his attraction to her was really none of her business and he didn't want to put either of them in an awkward position when they could part at least as friends.

"Thank you, I feel the same" Rachel said with a soft but slightly disappointed smile that belied her words. He knew why she felt the way she did and appreciated her for not making a scene as he in his own way felt the same. An awkwardness settled between them from having to acknowledge and ignore what was between them.

"Anyway, if you could prep a case with the vaccine to take with us to show Granderson and her scientists that would be good." Tom said to her, Rachel nodded in agreement.

"Of course, it's already done. Do you know where are the labs from the docks?" Rachel asked him. She didn't know why she was prolonging the conversation but part of her didn't want to let go of this moment with him as she felt like it was probably going to be the last time they would ever be alone. She idly wondered if this was their private goodbye and if maybe she should be saying more than making small talk.

"I don't know exactly, I just know they've secured an Avocet building somewhere in the city" Tom said with a shrug.

"Avocet, it's-" Rachel began but Tom cut her off.

"Yes" Tom said saving Rachel the time on stating the obvious as they were both completely aware of what Avocet did in the past and also it meant the labs there would hopefully be fully equipped to handle the task of reproducing the cure.

"How did Kate take that news?" Rachel asked him, that question surprised Tom. It shouldn't have but it did given that how Kate felt was completely irrelevant to the mission at hand.

"Not well. Is there anything I should know? I know you've been reading in Avocet's medical research" he asked Rachel. The woman shook her head.

"Not anything relevant to the virus, while yes some of their work helped me gain a better perspective on my research. The company itself researched and implemented the gene therapy trials in treating autoimmune diseases and neurological disorders and disease such as alzheimers. Highly illegal and morally questionable but nothing I can see would be relevant-"

"That would lead to Kate having concerns on how Granderson and her people found and secured the building" Tom said, he could understand Kate's paranoia connecting the dots to a beautiful conspiracy on that one.

"Given what happened on the Vyerni, what I read in the research and the studies conducted I can understand her being afraid of anything related to Lassiter Industries" Rachel said somehow reading his face and seeing that he wasn't entirely ready to contemplate Kate's thoughts as a possible reality as he wanted a good outcome. He wanted allies not another enemy to fight.

"Do you know what happened to her on the Vyerni?" Tom asked her out of curiosity.

"With respect, it's not my place to share that information" Rachel told him, she might have told him nothing but her words were chosen carefully which meant that Kate had confided in Rachel. Not wanting to push and frankly not wanting to know exactly what happened to Kate on the Vyerni; he dropped the line of questioning.

"Right, how are you feeling about this?" Tom asked Rachel.

"Do I have the same reservations as Kate?" Rachel asked to clarify, Tom nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment and shook her head. "No, but then I want to be hopeful we've found allies" Rachel told him.

* * *

A couple of hours later,

The Nathan James set down it's anchor just a 15 minute boat ride from the docks of the main shipping area of Baltimore.

"It's good to be close to home again" Mike said to Tom, his sentiments were definitely shared by everyone in the room as they looked out to the dockyard. It was eerie how still everything was. There was no signs of life on the dock, not even bird life even the water was still. Though none of this dimmed the anticipation of the next step of their mission or the excitement of being so close to home soil.

Mike found it only uplifted his mood as he was running off a delicious mix of a coffee fix and sex. His stateroom wall back to its original condition. All of Lassiter Industries information was packed away into a box and sent to be stowed with Dr Scott's lab papers. He had to admit Kate didn't look happy during the process of it but after it was done and gone. Kate had decided it was time to indulge herself. Her words, not his. Not that he didn't mind having sex and frankly now they crossed that line, he couldn't find an argument to say 'no' especially when they had protection and it meant a lot of pleasure, smiles and laughter. It was like recapturing the past but even better given it was now in the present and not him hiding in some fantasy his brain cooked up to escape reality.

He also felt an incredible ego boost from having sex. Given the way Kate came alive in his arms, the bite marks on his shoulder all made him smile and feel incredibly satisfied with himself.

"Dr Scott and the second the landing party ready go?" Tom asked breaking Mike from his thoughts and not a moment too soon given that Mike's mind was taking him to places that he shouldn't be thinking about given current company and his need to pay attention to the task at hand.

"Yeah, they're just waiting for the green light and you" Mike informed him.

"My going, it's non negotiable" Tom said, gearing himself up for an argument or at least Mike to make some snide remark as he knew Mike disapproved of him leaving the ship. It was even harder given they were supposed to be coming home to a welcoming party whereas now it was a desolate dock with no signs of life with no idea what the political terrain was going to be. Tom like Mike obviously wanted to believe that there would be no enemies on their own home soil but they couldn't take the risk of being wrong.

"I know, but the second landing party can't leave without you" Mike said stating the obvious, he gave Tom an odd look like 'pull your head in' or at least that's how Tom interpreted it.

"Right" Tom said feeling a little stupid for jumping the gun and assuming Mike would pick a fight with him. "So how does it look out there?" he asked moving the conversation along instead of dwelling.

"Quiet; kind of like the calm before the storm" Mike commented.

"Lassiter's paranoia rubbing off on you" Tom said, Mike had to fight not to smile at the comment given the sexual connotations that could have been taken from that statement.

"Just a comment" Mike assured him.

* * *

Meanwhile on the flight deck,

"Hey, you getting sick?" Tex asked Kate as they stood on the flight deck; he was all geared up to go with the second landing party but they were of course waiting for the approval as the first party had yet to secure the meeting place on the docks.

"No, why?" Kate asked him as they watched the first landing party ride off to the port where the second party would soon join if nothing was amiss. Kate wore her sneakers and her usual garb of 3/4 tights and a long sleeve shirt. She also had on a large hi-vis winter jacket usually worn by the flight deck crew in colder temps. It was completely buttoned and zipped up to ward off the chill of the day as a brisk breeze came off the ocean chilling her legs.

"You're flushed" Tex told her, he propped his sunglasses on his cap and adjusted the grip on the rifle the navy had provided him with.

"It's windburn. Excited to be getting off the ship?" Kate asked him, changing the conversation before he could comment about her mussed up hair and just assume she was glowing in some kind of post coital glow. She really didn't think that existed but the smiling was hard not to do especially given that meant not thinking about Mike, tangled sheets and delicious memories add in the fact that she had dismantled the crazy wall of notes and was no longer on the hook for Lassiter industries. Well, she felt great. She just wished she and Mike had had a chance to go a second round on the sex after she'd packed away the wall. _Like a celebratory sex session..._ Kate mused with a smile.

"You look excited to get rid of me" Tex drawled breaking Kate out of her thoughts. She realised he'd taken her amused smile out of context.

"Just hoping you'll bring me back some boots" Kate said to him with a hopeful smile as she'd love a new pair of boots.

"Maybe I could find you some real pants" He offered in good humour.

"That would nice, some corduroy or-" Kate started, ready to list off a bevy of things she'd love to have but Tex cut her off.

"Yeah well, I don't think we'll be stopping by Macy's" Tex said dryly with a smile. Kate mustered up enough of an act to look disappointed.

"Gee that's a shame" Kate replied as she stuck her hands into the pocket of the jacket and dropped her head so half her face was covered by the collar of the jacket.

"You know, it's not that cold. It's barely below 60 degrees" Tex informed her as he watched her suffer though the less than pleasant cooler temps.

"Yeah well not all of us are born with a downy pelt covering our bodies to keep us warm like you" Kate remarked dryly, Tex grinned at her; not even insulted that she had just compared him to an animal.

"Hey, I'll have you know the ladies love something to hold onto" Tex said in good humour as Kate made a face of disgust from the mental images. She was about to voice how it was too much information when his attention was pulled away by Rachel walking onto the flight deck. She could understand his distraction as he had it bad for Rachel. Kate leaned in close to him and smiled enjoying the moment as it gave her more material to tease him with.

"Why don't you just tell her that you love her and want her to make babies with her" Kate said in a low teasing tone to Tex so now one could overhear them but then no one was paying attention to them as the crew on the deck were too busy fussing and faddling with the second RIB making sure it was prepped to go.

"Is that what the Commander said to get you?" Tex asked her in an equally low voice to her.

"Excuse me?" Kate asked him. He gave her a 'Do I look stupid?' look before answered.

"I'm not blind. I see the way you two look at one another when you don't think anyone is watching and you're sharing the same bed. It doesn't take a genius to know what you two are doing and I know you're not braiding each other's hair and talking about the kardashians" Tex said to her.

"You're ridiculously obsessed with those women" Kate told him in a dry tone. Tex gave an unapologetic smile.

"What women?" Rachel asked as she joined them.

"The Kardashians" Kate informed her.

"Who?" Rachel asked looking lost.

"I could kiss you for saying that." Kate told her as Tex looked at Rachel like she'd grown a second head given it was hard to find someone who didn't know the women.

"Ok" Rachel said a little unsure of how to take Kate's declaration of intention.

"How could you not know about the Kardashians?" Tex asked Rachel.

"Give Rachel a break. She's been busy studying at viruses for the past 5 months not US weekly like us plebeians" Kate told him with a playful shoulder shove.

"Fair enough" Tex said accepting the excuse with ease, he turned to Kate "and I know what you've been up to with the other thing" Tex warned Kate.

"What thing?" Rachel asked being nosy while at the same time Kate muttered "God I hope not".

Rachel smiled as she had a pretty good feeling what the 'thing' was given Kate's evident awkwardness to discuss it with Tex. Kate rubbed a hand over her face suddenly looking incredibly tired.

"He believes I'm eating too much sugar and making a big deal out of it" Kate said with a smarmy smile as Tex made a face at the visuals she providing him.

"I'm looking after your well being. I got nothing against sugar in general, it's the type of sugar you're partaking in that concerns me. It's not healthy" Tex told her.

* * *

On the Mainland,

"You know it wouldn't hurt for you to take it easy" Boyscout told Anna, they were lying down on a rooftop a few yards away from the co-ordinates Granderson had given the Nathan James to make port. It was only luck that they were here.

They stopped in 'Little Tokyo' for lunch and to catch up with the head of the local Yakuza who preferred to be called Ninkyo Dantai. It didn't change that they were a crime syndicate nor did it change who they were but they had locked down their part of town before Baltimore became a hot zone and held onto their piece of town and it's residents keeping them safe. Somehow they had only lost a few people to the virus yet the rest of the suburb hadn't caught as much as a sniffle even though they had a few outbreaks. Even some of the people had survived being infected. Those who survived knew that they were immune, no one knew how or why they were spared.

Some believed that the spirits had kept them safe and steeped themselves into their old traditions to show their gratitude and reverence for being spared. While their distaste for the syndicate still remained they had learned to respect that they were a necessary evil and the only reason Granderson and the others hadn't been able to get to them or know about them.

This was only because Ninkyo Dantai kept the pocket suburb and it's residents safe from the other sects and unwanted elements like Granderson mainly through misinformation and remaining neutral from the power grab just like Anna was. They more distasteful means but Anna wasn't one to judge as she was no better but they had helped her when she needed it. She was sure the only reason they had helped her was because of her Japanese ancestry.

Either way, she had been grateful and she made sure to maintain her 'friendship' with them and the lunches tended to be more about an exchange of information than about socialising given they had radio contact with other Ninkyo Dantai burrows on the East coast. So they kept Anna informed on anything about Nathan James over the air waves, Lassiter Industries. She and Boyscout in turn kept them informed of Thorwald and the others as she was in the inner circle among other things. They of course weren't a fan of Boyscout given he didn't speak Japanese and his attitude was generally perceived as disrespectful. Normally Anna went to the meeting alone but Boyscout was really stuck on not leaving her today for some reason.

So lunch while it had been slightly awkward given Boyscout was there had turned out more productive than the meeting with Thorwald and the other head honchos which had been thoroughly unproductive but at least it was nice to see that they were all focussed on different goals and still unable to make an alliance successfully work. It was like they all missed that class about team work and sharing.

Either way they had been concluding their lunch when the call of the location and time for Nathan James to rendezvous with Granderson came in. So they finished up and Anna paid her respects before she and Boyscout took off to the advantage point which was where they were now.

Perched on a rooftop a few blocks away looking through binoculars at the location. Nathan James was further out in the bay while a RHIB had just pulled along side the empty dock. In an ideal world they would have been down on that dock first but it was Thorwald territory and with Granderson's people on the way, it just spelled trouble and thanks to Thorwald and Granderson using Jamming technology there was no way to send a warning that could be understood by the Nathan James.

They also couldn't make themselves known because Boyscout didn't have a large enough army to take on Thorwald or Granderson let alone both at the same time and Anna was trying to stay under the radar until it was absolutely necessary. Thorwald she could handle, she could talk herself out of trouble with him but Granderson. Well, Anna knew she would never be able to survive her.

"Where do you think Thorwald is hiding?" Anna asked purposefully changing the subject. She hated when people told her how to look after herself. She watched through the binoculars as group of seven soldiers secured the area on the ground. She could only think that the ship was keeping an eye on the buildings.

"He's gotta be here" Boyscout said as he looked on the scene with her, as two black SUV's pulled up at the location. "There's Granderson's people" he added.

"I reckon Thorwald's in the warehouse facing the area" Anna commented as Thorwald might be politically savvy and charismatic to garner a large following to his cause but he was inexperienced when it came to the tactical side of his operation. His soldiers were just like him; petulant and impulsive. They liked the power of holding a gun. His fighting style was more reactive than active in his attempts to take down Granderson and steal power. It was why Anna never took up his offer to join him. He had no realistic plans to meet his long term goals and he didn't like being told what to do or even taking advice from anyone as he felt he was king. _The pompous ass..._ Anna thought.

"Pretty stupid given the direction of light will reflect off the scope of a rifle and binoculars" Boyscout commented as they watched the state troopers jump out and talk the soldiers at the docks.

"How else will Muttley make his shot?" Anna asked him, a wry smile playing on her lips.

"Do you ever call anyone by their real name? Do you even know my name?" Boyscout asked her. Anna lowered her binoculars as she could only stomach so much of the Nathan James being lulled into false security by Lieutenant Pete Norris. If there was ever a man who deserved to be put down it was him. She looked at Boyscout and raised an eyebrow.

"SCPO Wolf Taylor, would you like me to recite your serial number?" she asked.

"Why can't you call me by my name?" he asked.

"Because you're the epitome of a boy scout" Anna drawled, he shook his head as he turned his attention back to the docks.

"Looks like the Captain has joined the party" he informed her, Anna picked up her binoculars and saw that he was correct as a second RHIB pulled up to the dock with 5 more soldiers and two civilians judging by their clothing though one was dressed in kevlar. The one in kevlar turned his head and Anna couldn't believe her eyes.

"Well, I'll be fucked six ways to Sunday" Anna murmured. She figured the man to be dead or at least stranded on Gitmo. The fact that he had managed to get on the Nathan James seemed short of a miracle.

Then again the Nathan James managing to get this far was an amazing feat of it's own given that the ship looked to be in good condition. Though that was only from a distance. She wondered why she hadn't seen Kate disembark with the others in the second party to arrive at the dock. She tried not to think it meant she was dead as she needed her to be alive.

"If you want help with that let me know. I'll clear my schedule" Boyscout quipped in good humour.

"Raincheck. Has your comm team made contact with the ship?" Anna asked him so he would give up teasing her.

"Been trying but no luck too much interference from Granderson's camp. Speaking of the devil" he drawled, they watched as a third SUV rolled up and the woman in question came out of the vehicle to greet the Captain and the others from the ship.

"She must be feeling brave. Maybe you should try a snatch and grab" Anna said.

"Granderson?" he asked in disbelief as they had once talked about that but agreed it wasn't worthwhile.

"No, she's a waste of resources" Anna said.

"Agreed, what about the brunette? she looks pretty important" Boyscout commented given how the state troopers were hovering around her and slowly if not purposefully shepherding her into the SUV.

"Too risky, she's practically got her own security detail" Anna told him, the little meet and greet with Granderson's people and the Nathan James party was starting to wrapping up.

"I've already organised for the Captain to be followed. See where they go to" Boyscout said, he turned his head and murmured orders into his radio before he continued to watch with Anna.

"They're going to be taken to Avocet building. But you should definitely put a tail on the bearded lothario down there. He'd be the one to grab" Anna told him.

"You know him?" he asked as he focussed in on the man she was talking about.

"Yes, his name is Tex Nolan, ex-special forces went private sector a few years ago. He should be in Gitmo-" Anna started to fill him in on the details but Boyscout cut her off.

"And we should care about him because?" Boyscout asked, Anna wondered idly if she heard jealously in the man's tone but dismissed it given Boyscout could have a goddess of a woman with just the crook of his finger. She on the other hand was just a shadow of a woman at best and knew it since before the outbreak her love life was non existent. So if he was entertaining her as an option for sexual partner then Anna knew he was definitely scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

"He's been on the ship. If anyone from that party is going to stray it'll be him and the state troopers didn't give a crap about him which means he'll be easy pickings" Anna told him, she gave a sigh as the people below piled into the vehicles and started off.

"I take it this Kate you talk about wasn't down there" Boyscout commented as they rose to their feet.

"No" Anna said with a sigh.

"We'll work something out until then we should leave before Thorwald's people catch us" he said.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

* * *

On the Nathan James,

"Oh and say hi to her Mom for us" Mike said into the radio receiver in response to Lt Green's message that he and the landing party were heading inland. He hung up the receiver and looked around the room. The crew were all looking happy for what felt like the first time in months except for Kate. She looked pensive as she looked out the front window with her arms folded across her chest. He stepped forward to stand beside her.

"You're looking uneasy" Mike said to Kate. The Captain and the others had hopped into SUVs and gone off to who knew where and one of the RHIBs was on return to ship with Lieutenant Norris and a couple of state troopers. It all looked promising as no was dead yet and everyone was smiling.

"Can't help it. we've had a bad run with luck in the past when it comes to making friends" Kate said in a low voice, she was trying not to dampen the mood on the bridge given everyone was happy to be close to home and have new allies. "But hey, I honestly hope I'm wrong." she commented with a shrug. Mike wondered if he was reading more into her casual comment like she was talking about being wrong about more than Granderson's people but the bridge was not the place to ask.

"Want to come join me in welcoming Lieutenant Norris?" Mike asked her, she shook her head.

"No, but I'll walk with you part of the way" Kate said, Mike stepped back while he inclined his head and gestured for her to go first. He watched her go first and followed her out of the bridge and down the passageway to the nearest stairwell. "You giving the Lieutenant and his posse the nickel and dime tour?" Kate asked.

"No, just to the lab and then to the wardroom. I'm more interested in the layout of Baltimore and getting the ship refuelled and resupplied than playing host" he told her.

"Will the Helo get refuelled?" Kate asked him, he smiled as he already knew what she was thinking. She wanted to fly to Deer Park, maybe do it while Tom was off the ship so then he couldn't order the crew not to comply. It was an idea he had himself.

"It's on the list. Sure you don't want to join me as a civilian ambassador? You could push your agenda of refuelling the Helo" he told her, Kate smiled and shook her head.

"No, politics aren't my thing. Anyway I'm thinking it would be best if I made myself scarce. Maybe take a nap in Rachel's bed" Kate told him. Mike frowned as it now made sense why she had come this way.

"You sure that's the best strategy?" he asked her, Kate looked her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at him. They came down to the main stretch where she would go to the left towards her old quarters and he to the right to head outside.

"Sleeping in Rachel's bed? She won't mind" Kate told him purposefully being obtuse. She stepped closer and spoke in a lower voice so what she said wouldn't carry in the hallway. "I also think that while Mrs Granderson's people are around we shouldn't be sharing your stateroom. Just in case" she added.

"You're really worried about this aren't you?" he asked her.

"I just have this horrible gut feeling and I don't want what we have to be exploited" Kate told him.

"And you think hiding is the best strategy? I didn't think it was your style" he told her.

"Actually it is, I just tend to hide wherever you are so you don't notice or mind" Kate said giving him a closed lip smile. She was feeling anxious to hide. She knew she was definitely turning into a coward but she really didn't want to get involved with whatever was going to happen until it was established that everything from here on out. Until then she'd hide and hope everything turned out for the best. "I'll leave you to your work Commander" she told him.

She turned to go in the direction of where her quarters used to be before she bunked in with him. But Mike caught her by the upper arm. She stopped and turned to her face to him.

"Hey, at least show up for dinner" Mike told her, the passageway was empty for now but it would only take a second for someone to appear. But he didn't let go, instead he slowly dragged his hand to hers as he stepped towards her closing the space between them.

"Why?" Kate asked him not liking the idea of showing her face at all. In fact she looked downright uncomfortable with the prospect. To anyone who would step into the passage way from its many entry points it would look like Kate and Mike were having a quiet conversation as the position of their bodies hid the fact that he was holding her hand ; an incredibly innocent gesture that could be misconstrued in an instant.

"If they are your enemy wouldn't be better to know what they look like?" Mike asked, for some reason she felt like he was mocking her but let it slide. She knew she was being paranoid and frankly she didn't need him to validate herself. She looked down at their hands and intertwined their fingers needing the comfort of his quiet strength.

"Do you think I'm being irrationally paranoid?" she asked him.

"Definitely but you're entitled to feel that way" he offered diplomatically.

"So diplomatic" Kate drawled sarcastically. She lifted her eyes up to his smug expression. She wished she could hug him as she really could use it even if he was being smug.

"It's part of the job" he said with a smug smile like he was proud of himself for being able to just toe the line between saying the right thing but also the wrong thing at the same time. "I also don't want to be stuck by myself playing hostess with these guys" he told her.

"I'll think about it but for now I should go. I really need a kip" she told him reluctant to let his hand go but knowing they were truly tempting fate by letting it go on this long. Anticipation, excitement and apprehension coursed though her as she wanted take him to where was the closest closet and kiss him be completely inappropriate. This was one of the many reasons she understood why fraternising was a big no-no.

"Ok, but you'll need to eat if you want to keep your strength up" Mike said in an eluding tone but Kate got the message loud and clear that he was talking about her getting her strength up for more sex. She was tempted to make a crack about older men and how they were supposed to have a declining interest in sex but decided if anyone overheard that comment she'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Did you not hear the part about me sleeping alone in Rachel's bed tonight?" Kate asked him.

"Yeah I'm hoping you'll change your mind as these people aren't staying the night. So I'll see you at dinner?" he asked, He purposefully asked the question after his statement so she couldn't argue with him. Kate pursed her lips but he knew it was to cover a smile as she gave him an amused look. She slid her hand out of his and stepped back.

"I'll think about" Kate told him before walking away. Mike watched her go for a moment, allowing himself to enjoy the flare of happiness inside him as Kate briefly looked over her shoulder at him and give him a slightly heated look and coy smile. He smiled to himself and turned the direct he needed and headed to greet the Nathan James's new arrivals.

* * *

After a long drive through the city,

They pulled into a circular drive and the SUV stopped. Tom hopped out of the car and looked at the large campus style glass building that looked to be about 2 storeys high. It was in very good condition though being on the outskirts of the Baltimore probably helped. Sadly however it didn't comfort him. He didn't like what he'd seen on the way to the Avocet building.

The desolation and degradation of the city and the homeless roaming the streets was fiercer than he could imagine. In a way it broke his heart because he promised his crew he'd get them home but this wasn't home. At least not the home they had left, definitely not the home they wanted to come home to.

It also set in how much of a sacrifice those extra months had cost them. While on a professional level it was understood the greater good came first it didn't necessarily cancel out one's personal pain or grief. Somehow even if they managed to pull all of this off there would be people on his crew who would have no family left to save, and nowhere to go home. He knew first hand that no matter how great one's accomplishments there would be times the grief was strong that even curing the world would mean nothing.

Tom couldn't help but hear Mike's argument when Tom first broached the subject of staying on the ship and weighing of options until Mike informed him that he wasn't God.

"We were fortunate to find this building." Granderson said to Tom breaking him out of his thoughts. He stepped towards her as he felt the presence of the others from his ship around him.

He couldn't help his expression as his mouth thinned into a firm line. He was unsure how to interpret Mrs Granderson's choice of words 'Find' over 'secured' which was the word they had used on the radio wave. Secured in his mind meant they had fought and won the building and yet here she was telling them she and her people had 'found' which meant it would have been abandoned which raised more questions as to why a fully serviceable lab would be abandoned. But he kept his suspicions to himself deciding it was best not to let Kate's paranoia ruin this.

"There's only one coal-fired plant still operational, and we have a direct line. Plus, strategically we're far enough from the city to avoid infection. You'll be safe here." She assured them in them in a soothing and positive tone. She even threw in a warm smile before she gestured to the front door "Come." She said.

She walked ahead of them as they entered the large foyer of the building. It was like the pandemic had never happened as people in suits and lab coats roamed around the place heading up stairs or to the elevators. Everything was so 'clean' and almost too perfect to him.

Tom kept the back of the group taking in the number of armed guards posted, they followed Mrs Granderson up on a side stairs to the second floor.

"Mom, this is amazing." Lt Granderson said, a sentiment Tom could share given he wondered how an Avocet building was perfectly intact while Fort Detrick labs were obliterated. His brain was not going to allow him to let go of these annoying factoids. He looked out the window taking in the immaculate nature of everything he was seeing. He wondered if the building had been damaged in some way he might not be as suspicious.

"Oh, yes, but it's been a battle." Mrs Granderson assured them. There was a tired note in her tone which piqued Tom's attention.

"And who's the enemy?" Lt Green asked her before Tom had a chance.

"Warlords, they call themselves and recently, they've killed more people than the actual virus." Mrs Granderson answered, she stopped and looked to the group "Do you know they raided the National Archives? They actually tried to steal original copies of the Constitution." She said in a mix of disbelief and disgust, she stepped closer to the wall as small single line of young and nicely dressed students behind a woman in a well dressed suit passed by. "As if that could take away who we are as a people" she said looking at the students.

The group moved to the wall and allowed the students and their teacher to pass by. Once again that nagging feeling in his gut played up as he couldn't help but notice how nicely dressed everyone inside the building were in comparison to the people who were on the streets. It was apparent that there was definitely a massive divide in the society.

"Captain." Mrs Granderson said, Tom looked to her for a moment before moving to the front of group next to Rachel. "I didn't want to broadcast about the virus over an open radio feed, but The President told me that you had the materials to produce a that true?" Mrs Granderson asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Tom answered. Mrs Granderson started to break out into a smile when Rachel interrupted to moment.

"We've actually made a little more progress than that, ." Rachel said, Tom looked to her and saw the small smile play on her lips. The happiness he knew she felt at being able to share good news. She took a sharp breath as she darted a look at him and then said "We have the cure." Rachel told her.

Mrs Granderson looked down at the black case Rachel was holding in her hands and her eyes lit up greedily as Tom expected anyone to feel at the news of knowing they were carrying the cure. It was the most wanted commodity, her eyes looked around to all the faces in marvel of their feat before stopping on his face.

* * *

Meanwhile in Helo Bay One on the Nathan James,

"Fort Detrick was our first option, too." Lieutenant Norris said looking into the Lab. Majority of it was mostly packed up with only a few pieces of equipment left out since they didn't have the boxes to transport them yet. Tophet stood inside the room prepping the vaccine for Norris.  
"They had the lab and all, but, uh, - Thorwald got there first." Norris said with disdain.

"Thorwald?" Mike prompted, the name was unfamiliar to him. Getting information from Norris and his cronies was like trying to pull teeth. They were supposed to be their new friends but they asked too many questions; too many annoying questions about the ship and crew when he wanted to get down to business and talk about the situation on the ground in Baltimore. He also wanted to know if it was safe to dock the ship and start unloading, refuelling and resupplying as they were his top priorities until the Nathan James received orders otherwise. Not play tour guide which was why he passed off the main group to Grodin who just happened to pass his direction. _Poor kid..._ he thought as he definitely abused his power of command handing the group off onto the young lieutenant given he was a helo pilot so his knowledge of the ship was next to nothing except the basics of where the bathrooms were and helo bay along with the wardroom.

"Former Baltimore P.D. self-proclaimed leader of the Warlords. Been a real pain in our ass since this whole thing started." Norris said taking a seat at the table. He looked into the tent to Tophet. "I shouldn't complain." He chuckled as Mike wished Norris would complain a little more about the outside world "I imagine you've been through a hell of a time yourselves." Norris said angling once again to know what the Nathan James had been up to, where they had been, what enemies they had encountered. Things Mike wasn't reticent to share but didn't want to go there considering it wasn't relevant.

"Listen, Lieutenant, last I talked to my wife, she said was taking the family to Deer Park." Mike said, changing the subject to a more personal matter. It deflected the conversation away from the Nathan James but landing squarely about his kids which he'd only find through Christina. It felt weird saying 'wife' as he had broken his wedding vows twice with Kate and yet here he was masquerading that he was concerned for Christina and his kids when majority of his concern was for his daughters.

"Safe Zone, heard of it." Norris said to him with a casual nod.

"You know if it's still there?" Mike asked, apprehension and fear squeezing his heart as he wasn't sure how he would react if he was told that his daughters were dead. He wasn't sure he could keep it together to know that he had come this far and lost all of his children. The fact was that he barely kept together when he heard the news of Lucas' death, the pain of that loss still carried with him and he knew it would for the rest of his life.

"There was fighting, but there are survivors. I can get you there as soon as we get you off the ship." Norris said, Mike took a quick breath at the knowledge and even though the pragmatist in him said there was no way they could be alive. He couldn't stop the small bubble of irrational hope that they could be alive. The fact that Norris offered to get him off the ship to find them. It seemed to wash away his earlier annoyance as he had just given Mike hope.

Tophet used the jet injector and pressed it into Norris' arm. The injector made a loud click and Norris hissed in slight pain. "Ooh! Thanks, have no idea how good that felt." Norris said with a smile to them.

"Well, I have some idea." Tophet comment before leaving them to go clean up the mess left behind and pack up the remaining vaccines and equipment that needed to be packed.

"Yeah" Mike said with a slight smile as he wanted to tell Kate the news about Deer Park.

"So Mrs Granderson asked me to talk to Mrs Lassiter. I was wondering if you might be able to arrange a meeting with her" Norris said, Mike quirked an eyebrow as he wondered why the man assumed him to be Kate's social secretary. It wasn't the first time Kate had come up in conversation but Mike either pretended to ignore the question and change topics smoothly before Norris or his cronies could push the subject.

"Why?" Mike asked curious as hell as to what Granderson would possible want to talk to Kate about given Kate had made it clear she knew nothing about Lassiter Industries that could help her. Even though it was quite the opposite of the truth.

"What did you want to talk to her about?" Mike asked Norris as they left the Helo bay to head towards the wardroom. He was hoping to get this part of the conversation over with quickly so they can move onto more pressing issues.

"Oh just business to do with the compound we have. It's property of her husband's company and Granderson just wants to Mrs Lassiter to help us gain access to the servers given they've been lockdown since the outbreak or so our technicians say" Norris said with a friendly manner as he followed Mike.

"I don't think you'll get much joy from her on that front" Mike told him, trying to play it casual.

"Why not?" Norris asked him, his tone curious.

"Lassiter suffered a concussion and has been emotionally volatile since Granderson informed her of her brother in law's death" Mike told him in a wry tone.

"I'd still like a private word with her" Norris said.

* * *

On the mainland, at the Avocet building.

Rachel followed Granderson along with the others. After the meeting on the docks and the long drive to the building she had been riddled with concerns as what to expect. The city of Baltimore looked like a war zone to her minus the debris of bomb blasts and bullet holes in walls. It hadn't boded well but the Avocet building was immaculate.

It was like the pandemic had never happened, this one part of Baltimore left completely untouched by the tragedy even though Mrs Granderson espoused that they had encountered their own enemies. Given the soldiers and guns guarding the place it looked like Mrs Granderson had everything well under control and more importantly thriving.

She continued their tour pointing out that the Avocet building was their main base of operations and while many labs were still locked down for unknown reasons including the main computer server rooms. They were working to get them operational. She hadn't missed the subtle hint that Kate would be able to help given she was now the sole owner of Lassiter Industries. It was like they believed she was holding the keys to open up the building. But as much as Mrs Granderson hinted that Kate should visit she didn't push it.

Instead she changed the topics dropping information about the last five months informing them of the loss of life and their advances in treatments to prolong and ease the sick patients lives so they could find a cure.

"Obviously, we've worked for months trying to develop a cure." Mrs Granderson said as they rounded a corner and stopped in front of two glass doors. "But now you're here." she said to the group but her eyes rested on Rachel and the CDC case.

Mrs Granderson's words were lost on Rachel as she looked at the fully equipped and operational lab just behind the glass doors. Rachel couldn't help but feel elation and relief at the sight.

"It's heavenly." Rachel murmured in pleasure as it was more than she could ever dream for when she thought about how she was going to manufacture and disseminate the cure. Those inside the lab stopped what they were doing and looked to her.

Obviously they knew about her and her work as they started to applause. She reflexively smiled at the appreciation being shown but felt a saddening sense of finality and disappointment as it meant she would be here while Tom would be leaving her.

* * *

Back on the Nathan James,

"Can't you MacGyver this to work?" Kate said as she swivelled in her chair. She had stopped by the comm room to find Mason all by himself. Taking the opportunity to ask about Orphan signals and how to get her phone call to actually work so she could find out who wanted to talk to her.

Sadly, Mason's explanation of what she needed to know and how he couldn't fix her phone issues or even 'jack' her phone into the ship's system to give her 'better' phone coverage had flown in one ear and out the other. The only part she did understand was that it was impossible which brought them to here and now.

"I'm only telling you, it's impossible" Mason told her in an exhausted tone.

"What if-" Kate started but Mason cut her off.

"No, Ma'am there is no solution and no amount of bobby pins or matches will fix the problem" He said with a patient smile.

"I'm amazed you'd even know about MacGyver" Kate said mockingly to the Ensign.

"I had TV as a kid" he said defensively. Kate opened her mouth to tease Mason by commenting that he was still a kid but the door to the room opened and on the other side was Mike and a man who Kate assumed to be one of the state troopers. Mason rose from his seat out of deference to Mike's rank.

"At ease Ensign" Mike told him, as he stepped into the room. He looked to Kate and raised an eyebrow but didn't ask.

"Yes, sir" Mason said re-taking his seat. Mike was tempted to ask Kate if she was distracting Mason from his work but decided against it as Kate looked exhausted. It was obvious she hadn't gotten the nap as she had dark circles under eyes and he knew better than to tease her when she was exhausted especially when he couldn't kiss her if she got pissed off at him. Nor could he show affection as Kate seemed to not want Norris or his cronies to know her attachment to him.

He also had to maintain a level of professionalism as XO and on duty. The annoyance of being duty bound and having to behave appropriately.

"Lieutenant Norris would like to make a call to base" Mike said to Mason as Lieutenant Norris stepped into the small space behind him.

"You're Kathryn Lassiter, right?" Lieutenant Norris said in a friendly enough manner to Kate. Mike watched as Kate's demeanour stiffened and she looked mildly peeved at being addressed. "Lieutenant Pete Norris" he said holding out his hand to her. She looked at the Lieutenant's hand like it was poison ivy.

"What does Mrs Granderson want now?" she asked him, folding her arms across her chest making it known she was not going to shake his hand let alone be friendly. Norris looked to Mike who gave him 'you're on your own' look.

"Cutting to the chase, I like it" Norris said, awkwardly taking his hand back and placing it on his hip trying to act like he hadn't just been snubbed.

"Yes, so what is it?" Kate asked him.

"Well, Evan Lassiter sent you a message. We downloaded it at Avocet. We think it's his last words but they aren't in English. I reckon it's nonsense but some think it might be Gaelic? Thought maybe you'd like to join me back to the Mainland later tonight. Perhaps you could make sense of it" Norris said to her. Kate stared at him with a steely gaze for what felt like the longest minute making the small room incredibly uncomfortable with hostile tension before she spoke.

"No thank you, I have a Helo to strip and clean" she told him, she rose from her chair and tried to move to the door but Norris stood in her way.

"This is your brother in law, don't you feel any sense or need for closure?" Norris asked her, he said it like it was supposed to mean something. Kate made a derisive noise and rolled her eyes at him. She knew she would come off as a cold hearted bitch but that was the image she was going for.

"Well, I was wondering if he was alive but he's dead. I know the hows and whys and thus have my closure. Listening to a message from the grave would not change or make anything better. So I'm not interested, now would you please step aside" Kate told him coldly. Norris sized her up for a moment and gave a nod before moving out of her way. After she was gone, Norris turned to Mike and Mason, he blew out a breath as the tension had dissipated.

"Well, isn't she just a hot little button" he said jovially, Mike was sure the man was trying to bond with them but he didn't appreciate the lewd nature of the comment.

"Ensign Mason will help you get your call connected to the Mainland, I have to step out for a minute" Mike told him.

"Alright" Norris said as he stepped out of the way, Mike passed him and exited the comm room and closed the door behind him; securing the door before he looked for Kate. She was halfway down the hallway walking in the direction of the Helo bay.

"Hey" he called out, Kate stopped and turned on her feet and looked at him, watching him as he moved towards her quickly closing the gap between them. He opened a side door that led into a storage for fire equipment and Hazmat suits for the floor. He pulled her in and closed the door before turning to Kate. She wore a bemused smile.

"If you-" Kate started to say but Mike cut her off with a kiss. He slipped his arms around her, he kissed her with heat and just as he was about to slip his tongue into her mouth; she made little noises in frustration and pushed herself out his arms. "We're not doing this now. So don't rev me up, I'm tired. I don't need sexually frustrated as well" Kate told him. He smiled as she put distance between them, so she could pretend she had some semblance of control on herself.

"No, we're not but I have news" He said smiling because he had good news and because he found Kate's frustration adorable especially as she placed her hands on her hips and stared him down.

"Oh? and that required you to pull me into a storage room and kiss me?" Kate asked him.

"Why not? It's not everyday I have happy news to share. Deer Park, Lieutenant Norris said there are survivors" Mike said, he was definitely paraphrasing the news as he didn't want to think on the fighting or that the safe zone was gone. He just wanted focus on the survivors. Focus on the fact his daughters could be there alive. He watched as a warm smile played across her lips.

"That's excellent, do they have a list of the survivors names?" Kate asked him. He blinked at the question as he hadn't even thought to ask.

"I don't know but Lieutenant Norris said he can take us directly there" he said, wanting to just share his hope with her. Kate's smile faltered slightly before she recovered, she knew this was important and that she would have to tamp down on her concerns and play nice with Granderson and her people. She could do it for Mike if it meant reuniting him with his daughters.

"You got a weird look on your face" Mike said, not missing the fact her smile faltered.

"I just figured it wouldn't hurt if I played nice with Norris and Granderson. They might be able to help bring your kids to you. A trade off which makes me feel a little uneasy" Kate said pursing her lips as she really didn't like going against her gut feeling to run for the hills when it came to Granderson and her army of state troopers.

"You don't have to do that" Mike assured her but Kate shook her head as she closed the space between them and tugged on the front of his BDU Jacket.

"I'm all in. You know that right?" Kate asked him in a serious tone.

"Yes, of course" Mike answered, inwardly pleased hearing her declaration of being 'all in' as it meant accepting him and his girls as her own. She hadn't even met them but the statement mattered to him and it was something he would never get tired of hearing. It only added to his joy and his hope for the future something he had tried hard not to think too heavily on or make too many plans for until this moment.

"Then if it helps for me to be polite to Granderson and Norris to get us closer to finding your kids then I will." Kate told him with a warm smile.

* * *

A couple hours later, on the mainland; in the Avocet Building.

"Look at her. She's in love with a toaster." Tex said in disbelief to Tom as they both stood on the outside of the lab looking in. Watching Rachel marvel at some lab equipment with her peers. Seeing her here in this environment made Tom realise how very different their worlds were and that this was her home. Not the Nathan James which was his. It pained him to think this was probably the most he was going to see her for the near future. He should be happy about it but he wasn't which only made him feel confused and pissed off. He was pissed off mostly at himself as he should be thinking of his family; his wife Darien not Rachel.

"You still haven't made your move yet?" Tom asked Tex, he tried not to be envious of the man who had become his friend as Tex was free to be with Rachel. Free to do whatever he wanted really.

He wished he was free as he wanted- no needed to find his family. The four doses of the cure were burning a hole in his tactical vest pocket. He knew once he was back with his kids and Darien all this angst he felt for Rachel would go. And when it did go and Darien was back in his arms reminding him of where he heart truly laid then he could rationalise that what he felt toward Rachel was just too many months away at sea or something. He'd find the convincing solution when he had time to properly think on it.

"Oh, I've been making my move since Gitmo. She ain't buying what I'm selling." Tex said in good humour. Tom smirked as he couldn't stop himself from feeling the satisfaction of knowing that Tex was failing."I thought once she saved the world, she'd let loose a little." Tex commented thoughtfully. Tom chuckled as he realised Tex was clueless when it came to Rachel.

"This is her letting loose." Tom informed him, he looked to Tex who gave him a 'Really?' look and he was about to confirm that he was telling the truth when he was distracted by Jeter's chatter.

The man was trying to get into contact with the Nathan James to get them an update but so far was having no love. He felt distinctly uncomfortable at being out of contact with the ship.

"I can't get through, sir." Jeter told him. Tom nodded but before he could ask for a supposition as to why Lt Green and Burk returned with Mrs Granderson as they had needed to use the bathroom. They must have continued the tour as they had been gone for a while.

"You won't get a signal here, Master Chief." Lt Green said to Jeter.

"The Warlords are jamming the local frequencies." Burk added looking to Tex and Tom.

"They have a radio room, sir. I let the X.O. know where we are." Lt Green told Tom, he nodded acknowledging the information. He didn't like having their radios being able to transmit directly to ship but squashed the paranoia. He silently cursed Kate once again for getting under his skin and making him question his allies.

He looked to Mrs Granderson. The woman who had been nothing but kind and open with information and answering any questions they had.

"Ma'am, uh, if that radio room is still available, I'd like to get word to my family, see if they're still out there." Tom said, He couldn't help but feel guilty in asking since he had a crew of over 200 people wanting to do the same. But he felt maybe if he could find out where his family was then he could clear his head of one concern before assessing the next phase of their current situation. It would also cancel out whatever attachment he had to Rachel as Darien would be back at his side.

"I think it's time you thought of yourself." Mrs Granderson said giving him permission to find his family. "Meanwhile, we can work with your team to arrange safe transit here for your ship's crew." She said.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

* * *

Somewhere in Baltimore,

"He should just give up" Anna said as she sat in the passenger side while Boyscout drove towards where Anna resided, the radio system in the truck was filling the cabin with Captain Chandler's voice. The man had spent the last half an hour trying to call his family but only being met with static. She couldn't help but feel disheartened for him. He was trying desperately like so many to find his loved ones. Yet he was so far worse off because his family would be used as leverage to keep him in line and under Granderson's control. Anna had wished they had tried to ambush the first landing party at the docks as the situation was incredibly complicated and getting more so with every passing hour.

"Like you should talk" Boyscout scoffed.

"True" Anna said not even bothering to argue when he was right. She could have given up on Kate, moved on to another place. Get as far away from Baltimore and Granderson but she stayed. Stayed because she knew the Nathan James would fall prey to Granderson's trap and it would not end well for anyone involved. She unconsciously rubbed a hand over the needle mark scars on the crook of her right arm. She hated thinking of that time; it wasn't the memories that bothered her. Yes, they haunted her sleep but it was the things that she didn't remember that scared the hell out of her.

_"This Tom Chandler, U.S. Navy, looking for Jed Chandler in Clearwater, Virginia, over."_ Tom Chandler's voice said over the radio. Boyscout sat back in his seat casual as can be as if they were taking in a beautiful Sunday drive. Not trying to evade capture from their enemies and avoid Granderson's road blocks. She looked out the window at the decay and dissipation of the world that once been. She knew a normal person would care for the greater good.

Hell, it's what the Army had told her, her job had been all about helping the greater good but since this pandemic happened and all the crackpot dictators popped up marking their territories and starting wars; she couldn't muster the empathy to help anyone. She had become frighteningly apathetic to it all, her only concern was staying off the radar as much as possible and finding Kate among her other goals. But finding Kate was her top priority.

_"Tom?"_ A gruff older male voice responded over the air waves.

"Looks like they're going to be reunited" Anna commented as they listened the conversation on the radio. She felt a little pang of jealousy and disappointment because Granderson was winning. With the Nathan James under her control she could shift the war and wipe her contenders off the map. Anna could just imagine the woman was smug with victory.

_"Dad? Dad? Are you there? It's me. It's Tom. I'm back!"_ Tom Chandler said, Anna could hear Chandler's desperation mixed with joy and fear. The same desperation they had heard for months of people crying out for help, trying to find loved ones.

"_Tom?_" The older male voice said.

_"I'm here, Dad."_ Chandler said, his signal seemed to be much clearer than his father's as there was little to no static interference.

_"Tommy?"_ Coughing sounded over the airwaves and Anna closed her eyes as it was not a good sign.

_"Are you at the cabin?"_ Chandler asked.

"_We're going to Baltimore"_ The older man said coughing uncontrollably between the words.

_"Baltimore?! Are you with the kids?! Darien?!_" Chandler asked one could feel the desperation in his voice to her bones as she so desperately want to get in contact with Kate.

_"We're sick. We had to leave the cabin. Going to Olympia. It's our only hope for a cure. Come quick._" the other man said. Anna cursed under her breath as she knew what happened at Olympia. There was no cure there. If anything it was just a fuelling station for the power plant that gave Mrs Granderson's territory electricity. Boyscout turned the radio down and shook his head looking angry and disappointed but Anna wasn't going to go there with him.

"Turn the truck around" Anna told Boyscout.

"No, I know what you're thinking but I'm not equipped to go into Olympia and neither are my people who are tailing him. Baltimore is a bust. I'm calling my people off. It's not worth the risk. Olympia is off limits for us" he told her as he pulled his radio out and murmured orders to his soldiers to return to the base.

"I doubt he'd go into a hot zone unprotected. They might have a cure or a vaccine which means you can risk the exposure" Anna argued.

"The man is chasing his loved ones who are infected into a hot zone. I'd say he's not thinking straight and even so the cure if there is one. Is in Granderson's hands now" Boyscout countered. Anna lost patient and pulled her side arm and pointed it at his head.

"Stop the truck" she told him.

"Anna-" Boyscout started in that tone that clearly demanded she hear him out but she wasn't going to be talked out of it.

"Pull over or I swear I'll pull the trigger" she promised him. Boyscout hit the brakes and brought the truck to a stop. He looked to her and threw his hands up in frustration.

"Happy? this won't get you to Kate. You can't save her this way. You'll only risk your own life and for what? Nothing, you'll just end up back in Granderson's camp again" Boyscout told her. Anna swallowed the distaste in her mouth as memories of her internment still haunted her. She didn't need the reminder of it nor did she need Boyscout telling her what to do not when she felt she was so close to her goals. She undid her seat belt and jumped out truck.

"At best, I get to the Captain and his family out of Granderson's hands. He'll be able to communicate with the ship and at worst I'll end up captured and they'll take me to where Kate-"

"You barely survived the first time" Boyscout told her.

"That's right but I got my ass out of there without yours or anyone's help. So stop acting like you're going to be putting your life on the line for this" Anna told him. All the while the radio kept blaring in the background with Captain Chandler talking to his father.

"I need you, you're the only one keeping the harmony out here between all the sects. Can you take a minute and seriously think about this and the ramifications?" He asked incredulously. Anna looked at him for a long moment.

"Ok, I thought about and I'm still going." Anna told him, she unhooked her P90 and her belt taking off her thigh holster before she placed it on the passenger seat floor. She pulled her side arm and batton; sticking the gun in the back of jeans and pulling the jacket over it. She then stuck the Batton into her sleeve and then zipped it up to cover her kevlar vest. Boyscout shook his head in disapproval but it didn't stop him from handing her extra ammo for her side arm. "Thanks" Anna told him, she pocketed them.

"Just call me when you're free. If I don't hear from you, it's been good knowing you" he told her, Anna nodded and tapped on the truck signalling him to drive. She stepped back and watched him drive off in the truck before she took off in the direction of Olympia. In hindsight she should kicked his ass out of the truck but she'd be able to hot wire a vehicle. It was just a matter of finding one with petrol.

* * *

At Avocet Building,

"Howdy." Tex said getting Rachel's attention as she stood outside the labs looking at a clipboard and thinking before conferring with the clipboard again as she paced and half twirled on her feet. It was something he had noticed that was a part of her 'process'. He also couldn't help but notice how right at home she was in the environment Avocet labs and Granderson created. But sadly for Tex, it wasn't his home and see the stark differences in their worlds just made him ache for wanting more but not being good enough or in this case intellectually smart enough to get it.

On the ship, he felt he had a chance but now Rachel was surrounded by her peers. He had nothing to offer her that she couldn't get from someone better equipped. There was also the fact that he had made a pretty deep declaration of his feelings to her and she hadn't returned them. So now was best time for him to leave while he still had his dignity intact.

"Tex." Rachel said, she had stopped at his greeting and smiled warmly as she clutched the clipboard to her chest.

"Hey, listen, just wanted to let you know that I'm heading off." He told her, drinking in the sight of her as it would be a long time if ever that he would encounter a woman like Rachel in his world again.

"Heading off?" she asked confused like she had misheard him.

"Mm-hmm." He murmured confirming to her that he was leaving. He watched as she looked bewildered and somewhat put off by his news that he was leaving. He hated that a bubble of hope existing in him where she might actually tell him to stay but the pragmatist in him told him to get a grip.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel huffed.

"I'm moving on." He said _in more ways than one_… he silently added ruefully. Though he had to admit he was a little bemused that she was struggling with the concept of him leaving.

"By yourself? But it's chaos out there." Rachel told him.

"I've seen worse." He assured her, Rachel couldn't believe he was leaving. She had gotten so used to him and everyone on the Ship as a semi permanent fixture in her world that the news of him leaving left her feeling bereft.

Especially given that he like Kate had become her friends; they had kept her steady and grounded, he had made her smile and gave a pep talk when she had needed it. His and Kate's unwavering faith and support in her abilities and had been a major contributing factor to her success. To have him leave now just felt wrong to her.

"And thanks to you, I can travel wherever I like" he added, his eyes never wavering from her. She wished she could feel as calm and content as he was because all she wanted to do was tell him to stay; that he couldn't leave now they had come this far together but she couldn't get the words out.

"Where will you go?" she demanded, not meaning to get agitated and angry at him.

" I, uh, got things to take care of." Tex told her, his tone told her there was more he wasn't telling her.

"The young girl whose picture that you keep in your locket." Rachel said as she realised she suddenly felt stupid for being so possessive and angry as it had slipped her mind that he would of course want to find whatever family he had left. He just acted like he were alone in the world like Kate and herself that it didn't compute until now.

"Among other things, yeah." He said, his gaze darting to labs and then back at her. "Anyway, you seem to have things plenty well in hand here."

The way he said it told her that if she just said she needed him. He'd stay but he felt comfortable in her abilities and her position here at Avocet that he could leave. So as much as she wanted to tell him to stay she couldn't hold onto him especially knowing there was a young girl most probably his daughter was out there waiting for him.

"Captain Chandler give you a vial of the vaccine and syringes?" she asked him trying to prolong the conversation.

"Yeah and I left a message for Kate. She'll know how to find me if you ever need me" he assured her. Rachel felt a twinge of sadness at saying goodbye but it was obvious he was ready to leave.

"Right then." She said, she mustered a closed lip smile and held out her hand to him.

Tex looked at her outstretched hand and couldn't help but feel disappointed for expecting –well fantasising for something more. He chucked at his own stupidity and took a sharp breath before he pushed off the wall and stepped forward.

"Oh, you're a special woman, you know that?" he asked her as they shook hands. He realised her hand after a brief shake and then patted her reassuring on the shoulder "You take care now." Tex told her.

He turned to leave and made it about one step before he muttered. "What the hell."

It was the last time he'd probably ever see her. He knew he'd never have a woman like her as a partner but that didn't mean he couldn't just for one moment pretend that it was possible. He turned on his and closed the space between them. He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her the way he had wanted to ever since the first time he met her.

He ran his hands up the sides of her face and dug his fingers into her hair enjoying the silky feel of it as he tilted her face upwards to his before he pressed his lips against her.

Rachel resisted at first out of pure shock as she hadn't expected the kiss at all. She found herself seduced and responding with the glide and shifting pressure of his lips against hers in a slow and sensual kiss. Her fingers gripped the clipboard she was holding afraid that if she moved the kiss might stop.

His mouth coaxed hers, making her toes curl in pleasure inside her boots. His tongue slid across her bottom lip, stroking inside to tease her. A roar of heat rushed though her body, stunning her as she was left reeling for breath and balance. He released her mouth and pulled back just enough to give her room to breathe and gazed down into her face.

He said nothing yet the look he gave her spoke volumes. She was dazed by the unveiled desire; the emotions he was showing and what he had made her. Emotions she hadn't expected but he barely gave her any time to recover or say a word as his hands dropped away and then he walked away; leaving her in his wake to deal with the aftermath at an utter loss for words and confusion of emotions.

* * *

Tom pulled out the small zip pouch that Rachel had given him. Inside was four syringes filled with the prescribed amount of the vaccine plus a small vial just in case. He unzipped and opened it silently counting the items double checking or in this case triple checking it was all there as the SUV travelled at high speeds to get to Onyx Tyre Station to his family.

He zipped it up satisfied to know that he had more than enough to save his family and stuck it back into the side pocket on his kevlar vest for safe keeping. He was filled with anxiety and frustration as he could taste how close they were getting to his family yet he was impatient they weren't moving fast enough.

"Put these jackets on. You'll blend in better." The state trooper in the passenger seat told them as he handed two leather bomber jackets to them. "We're in and out, gentlemen." He added in a serious no nonsense tone.

Tom undid his seat belt and pulled the jacket on just as they screeched to a halt. Tom jumped out of the vehicle not even waiting for the others.  
"Dad! Dad?" Tom called, he frantically looked everywhere for his father and his family. Panic gripping him as he was met with unfamiliar faces.

"Let's get eyes. 360." Burk ordered in the background but Tom paid him no attention as he moved with purpose.

"Darien?" Tom called "Dad?! Darien?!" he kept calling but no one replied and those at the station still alive laid listlessly. He turned a corner and saw a older man lying on the ground clutching an old ham style radio much like the old Tom knew his father owned. He rushed to the man, pushing a sign out the way as he knelt down the man.

"Where did you get this radio?" Tom demanded. The infected man shrivelled in fear and clutched to the radio unit like it was his only lifeline as he coughed and wheezed. "Where did you get this radio?! Answer me!" Tom shouted at the man as panic and desperation gripped his insides.

"It's mine now." the sick man said not even making eye contact with Tom.

"The man you took this radio from, where did he go?!" Tom demanded in a harsh tone. He couldn't help but shout as he wanted the man to hear him. To answer him.

"Man, everybody's going to the same place" he answered. Tom was ready to pull the radio out of the man's grip and beat him with it as it was not a useful answer and he was on a tight deadline literally as his family was sick and they needed the vaccine as soon as possible.

"Where did he go?!" Tom demanded.

"The arena!" The man cried.

"Where?! What arena?!" Tom demanded.

"Olympia!" the man yelled at him before he coughed and sputtered. Tom rose to his feet and raced back to the group.

"Come on! Let's go!" Tom ordered as he gestured for them all to move back to the SUVs in the driveway of the shop's yard.

"Can't do that, sir." One of the state troopers said to him, his hand poised on his hand gun. He ran a hand through his salt and pepper beard looking mildly uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" Tom demanded, he noticed the defensive posture as the state troopers all pulled together into a line blocking their access to vehicles.

"Olympia's off-limits. It's for sick people." He told him.

"But we're immune. You got the shots, too." Jeter said pointing out the obvious that they could go anywhere thanks to Dr Scott's work; the vaccine that was now burning a hole in Tom's side as he was desperate.

"Get back in the car. We're going back to base." He told them in a tone that said he was in charge but Tom shook his head. He did not come this far to be turned around. Not when he was this close to saving his family.

"We're going to Olympia." Tom told them.

"You don't give the orders, Captain." The state trooper who had given them jackets told them. He pulled his side arm much to Tom's and his crew's surprise his colleagues followed suit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Tom said as guns were being drawn and the situation was escalating out of his control.

Suddenly everyone was shouting over one another, the state troopers insisting they get in the car whilst Tom and his men were trying to calm them and get them to drop their weapons. They were even matched if the first bullets flew but after that the Nathan James crew had better odds as they had Kevlar vests and automatic weapons with more bullets.

"Drop your weapons! You don't want to do this, trooper! We're on the same side!" Tom shouted at them but one of the state troopers cocked his Remington 870.

"Everybody calm down!" Tom barely got the word out when the state trooper raised his weapon but before he could even level the barrel at him, bullets started flying.

Tom pulled his firearm and gunned down the man who shot at Jeter as his men took down the state troopers bar one who ran for the furthest SUV and gunned the engine and burnt his tires as he screeched out of the lot.

"Master Chief!" Lt Green shouted as he moved to Jeter's side. Tom turned and looked down to see his comrade on the ground clutching his arm. Blood started to seep through the fabric of his jacket and his fingers.

"I'm all right! I'm okay." Jeter assured them. He was not ok, he needed medical attention immediately.

Nathan James, this is Vulture in!" Burk said over his radio but all he heard was static "Damn it, still can't get through!" Burk said as moved to the closest SUV and opened the side doors for the others.

"Take the truck, get the Master Chief back to the ship and tell the X.O. what's going on!" Tom ordered as he helped Jeter to his feet and over into the SUV. Burk tossed his rifle into the back seat and closed the door as Tom closed the front passenger door for Jeter.

"What is going on?!" Lt Green asked as he jumped into the driver's side and turned the ignition key. Tom ignored the question as he continued to shout his orders at the Lieutenant.

"Find a way to get the others back to the ship. We're getting out of Baltimore." Tom told him, he stepped back from the vehicle as Lt Green gunned the engine and took off out of the lot; heading back to ship. Tom just hoped they would made it back in time as he wished he hadn't ignored his gut feeling about Granderson.

"You okay?" Burk asked Tom. Tom was so far removed from being okay that he ignored the question and stopped his recrimination playing in his mind as he realised his mistakes in wanting to believe the best of the situation as he had left Tex, Rachel and Lt Granderson in Avocet building completely outnumbered and with no way of escaping. He realised he should of put fail safe plans into place before he left the ship and the lab. But it was too late now, He paced in a wide circle as he watched the SUV leave the lot, mentally practising the techniques he had instilled from years in the Navy. He needed to focus and prioritise.

He could only do so much and he had sent Lt Green and Jeter back to the ship. Even if they didn't make it, Mike would be able to deal with whatever would happen as that lone state trooper would tell Mrs Granderson and now it was only a matter of time before she revealed her plans. Mike would keep the ship safe and Tom could save his family.

"What about us?" Burk asked, as Tom walked out of the lot and looked to where the infected populous was walking. He saw in the distance the signage for Olympia. His breath caught in his throat as he was breaking his duty as an officer of the navy and following his heart. He felt like a hypocrite as the argument Tophet had brought up about what would one do for their family. Tom remembered saying he wouldn't act the same way but he was wrong. Tophet was right, he would have done anything and right now he was about to throw everything away for his family.

"We're going to Olympia." Tom told him.

* * *

On the Nathan James,

Kate sat on the floor in the Helo Bay Two. She was leaning her back against the cold wall. She was hiding in the stacks of boxes as it was the last place anyone would be looking for her. She looked down at her mobile phone in her hand. The phone calls had stopped which was a relief as it meant she could chalk it up as orphan signals not someone calling. Though for just a small while she played fantasies in her head that it was Anna as she couldn't think of anyone else who'd have her number and want to contact her.

She gave a sigh as she knew she have to show up for dinner, she rose from her hiding spot and stretched out her legs and moved to the work bench. She turned off her mobile giving up on it entirely and tossed it into the top drawer. She closed the draw and moved to the interior door to go to Rachel's quarters to sleep for the night as she knew with all of the State troopers slinking around she was definitely going get caught going into Mike's stateroom.

She started to towards the door when it opened and Lieutenant Norris came into the room.

"Lieutenant Norris" Kate said in greeting. She wished she could summon some warmth to her tone but the man just made her skin crawl. He was just so friendly and happy it made her face hurt just to smile at him.

That and he was like he had walked out of 60's family TV show where everybody knew everyone and they just never had a bad day in their lives. All smiles and happy times.

"Just the woman I was looking for. I hope you don't mind but Lieutenant Grodin told me I'd find you here. I wanted to apologise for before" he said to her as he walked up to her and stopped rather close to her.

"Funny, I was thinking that I should be the one apologising for being rude" Kate said trying to be friendly for Mike's sake. _The more smoothly relations went between the Nathan James and Mrs Granderson's party… the better right? _Kate mentally asked herself.

"I had it coming, I was insensitive to you and completely out of line in what I said to you" he said as he clasped a hand on her shoulder. Kate looked to the offending hand on her shoulder "I also want to apologise for this" he added but before Kate could ask she felt a sharp jab in her left arm.

She looked over and saw him push the liquid in the syringe into her arm and felt a sluggishness wash through her veins of her left arm slowly travel over her body. Katr looked back to Norris who was smiling ever so cheerfully like they had just shared a funny story about the one time his wife burnt a pot roast except they hadn't shared a story.

"Why-?" She stopped mid way through her question as she didn't have to ask what was in the syringe as her body became numb and heavy. She tried to move, do something but her body wasn't complying. She tried to scream but the only noise that came from her lips was a breathy noise as she couldn't get the air into her lungs to be louder or form words. Her heart pumped harder from the adrenaline but all it did was fasten the dispersion of the drug through her system numbing her body completely.

"Shh, I know, it's ok" Lieutenant Norris said in a soothing tone as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Kate tried to push against him but all her body did was sink into him. "Granderson sends her regards and can't wait to meet you" Norris whispered in her ear. He lowered her to the floor and rolled her onto her back.

She watched helplessly as Norris whistled, a second later two other state troopers appeared in her line of vision. She could see they were carrying once of the crates the Captain had made to transport the monkeys from Nicaragua to the ship. Luckily it was one of the slightly larger models with air holes in it. But damned if Kate wasn't freaking out at the thought of being stuffed into one. She tried to keep her breathing calm and steady but it didn't seem to help the panic that was clawing her insides. She had no idea what they were going to do with her and she had zero control. Something she didn't like.

"We found an empty container. Think she'll fit?" one of them asked Norris. In a snap that panic was replaced by irrational anger as it was one thing to immobilise her with drugs but to stuff her in a tiny wooden box was downright insulting.

"Might be a tight fit but at least it'll keep her out of sight and under control for the next few hours" Norris said inspecting the box for a moment. He pulled plasti-cuffs from his jacket and Kate knew he was tying her up. She couldn't feel it but her vision jolted and he rolled her over onto her stomach. She gave a huff as she flopped over like a ragdoll. She wished she could move but her body was unresponsive.

"Isn't she supposed to be asleep?" one of the other troopers asked him.

"You'd think, but the doctors miscalculated the dosage of the sedative. Let's get her in the box and lock her up. We can tranq her later with the assistance of Doctor Tophet or Rios if she gets rowdy" Norris said, the lid of the wooden container was lifted open and then they lifted her off the floor. True to Norris's assumption it was was tight fit as they folded and pushed her into the small box. Kate groaned as they pushed her head at an odd angle and closed the lid on the box. She listened to the rattling of locks being secured and knew she was completely screwed.

_Great, just fucking great..._ Kate thought grimly to herself.

* * *

At Avocet Labs,

Rachel had been going over and over Dr Hamada's research for the last couple of hours trying to figure out if she had misread the data and the treatment protocols to treat the infected populous. It didn't help that Tex's rather shocking exit from her life had left her rattled nor the fact that Captain Chandler hadn't returned since leaving to find his family. She was unsettled which shouldn't be the case. She had been content but upon hearing the captain had left with Burk, Lt Green and Jeter to save his family had left her worried for him. She was worried that they were too late. She couldn't help but feel like she was too late for everything. Too late for Tex and the Captain even the crew to save their families. Too late to be any help to anyone really.

The labs were beautifully equipped with everything she could even dream of including intelligent and experienced staff. All of who were happy to share their research and what they had been up to in trying to find a cure and vaccine for the virus. Various treatments had cropped up from their work but nothing as sustainable as her cure in the long term. She had felt incredibly superfluous being in the labs as she listened to all their advances.

She had to admit they had thought outside of the box as she read research on a similar vein to Tophet's idea of the I.V.I.G. treatments and bone marrow transplants. They of course had little to know success. Their applications of that treatment prolonged the infected patients lives but they ultimately died though they did have success if the patients were in the early stages of the vaccine with bone marrow transplants.

But the Doctor who came up with the idea said it wasn't sustainable given for the bone marrow transplant to work they needed to have a good match and in their limited population it was rare to find matches. Not to mention finding naturally immune people even harder. Though from the research Rachel could tell they had found some very good luck in both finding donors who were naturally immune.

Yet the research had been halted because the donors had to recover or so Rachel was told. But like with everyone she met and talked to in this place. They seemed to be holding something back. Everything they tried bar Dr Hamada's treatment protocols was either on hold or completely stalled due to a lack of naturally immune people to study which made no sense given that from what she was hearing they had a plethora of donors but somehow they disappeared or at least it felt like that given no one would give her a straight answer.

Now here she was focusing on the most recent their most 'promising' and 'productive' treatment protocols they had for the virus and yet it didn't compute from the assumptions Dr Hamada had made of the virus to the data and results conflicted with what she understood of the virus as whole. If she was correct, the treatment wasn't prolonging or curing any of the infected. If she was right, it was killing the patients yet the results said it had 'positive outcomes' for the patients. Giving into her curiosity she walked up to Michael her first port of call as she knew him. They travelled in the same circles as academics for years.

"Michael, have you seen these protocols?" Rachel asked as she walked up to him. Micheal a rather fit man in forties with red beard, semi bald head and glasses rose from his seat and stuck his hands in his pockets of his pants giving her his full attention.

"Of course, why?" he asked her.

"Well, Dr. Hamada claims that his treatment prolongs the lives of the infected. But his whole assumption about the virus seems to be wrong." Rachel said, nervous as she knew disputing another doctor's work especially the most successful one in the lab was like starting a fire. The man gave patronising huff and she knew she had stuck her foot in her mouth as he looked at her like she was a recalcitrant child.

"I'm just a statistician, but the data he's given me suggests the treatment's working." He told her, in a manner that said he was insulted that she would question the numbers. Rachel shook her head, annoyed that he couldn't see what she was seeing.

"No, that's impossible." Rachel told him adamantly.

"Is something wrong?" Dr Hamada asked coming up behind Rachel, she turned to him and gave a breath of relief hoping she could explain her side and maybe clear up what she was reading. She truly hoped that maybe what she was reading was wrong, maybe the data was mixed up from a past project that failed.

"Dr Hamada, you're using ribavirin to introduce higher error rates to the virus' D.N.A. replication.-" Rachel started.

"In a chemical cocktail, yes" he told her, he nodded in agreement to what she was saying. So she spoke over him as she knew just like her he would argue his side to prove his research correct but she needed him to understand the flaws in his work. To understand the treatment protocols he was using were killing people.

"Yes, but the pandemic virus is treatment wouldn't have any positive effect whatsoever. In fact, these dose levels are highly toxic." She told him, she looked at him waiting for him to explain himself. She wondered why he didn't even look surprised by her inference that he was killing people with his so called 'treatment'.

"Hasn't Mrs Granderson spoken to you about this?" He asked her, Rachel reared her head back looking confused as to why a woman who was a politician would have to explain the protocols of a medical treatment.

"Why what would she know? You're the doctor who produced this protocol. I'm asking you to explain this to me" she told him.

"I've done what I've been told to do" he told her.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

* * *

Olympia Stadium,

Tom and Burk waded through the crowds of sick people being filed into the stadium. Tom was frantic to find his family. But there were so many faces and people suffering and calling for help. The cacophony of noise made worse by the never ending P.A. service announcement directing the traffic of people. He wished he could use the P.A. system to find his children but given Granderson's betrayal. He doubted the people operating this place would offer their assistance to him.

"Daddy?"

Tom stopped as he heard the echo a familiar voice. His daughter's voice; a voice he hadn't heard in over 5 months, at least not in real life given he'd played that recording Darien had sent him over and over. He couldn't help but wonder if his mind was playing tricks on him but then he heard it again.

"Daddy!" This time he knew it wasn't a trick. He turned around searching for her in the crowds until he spotted her with Sam and his father. He had walked past them without even seeing them, he couldn't believe he had overlooked them in his frantic search to find them but the chastisement was pushed aside for later as he found himself overwhelmed with relief. Relief that he had found them. He drank in the sight of them after of months of separation and felt his heart break at the state of them. His daughter and father were crouched on the floor by a cot where his son Sam was laying down. All were incredibly pale and their eyes sunken into their faces probably from the fever and dehydration. He stopped analysing them ad his heart began to pound even harder at the knowledge he might be too late.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed with a smile but sadly her smile didn't last as her face crumpled into tears.

"Ashley!" He said, he pushed past the people between them and knelt down as she raced into his arms. He wrapped her up tightly in his arms as she sobbed his name.

"Oh, my God." Tom exclaimed as relief washed through him. Hot tears burned his eyes as he held onto his daughter for fear that if he let go she would just disappear. He kissed the top of her head and held onto her for a moment more before he reluctantly pulled back slightly. Just enough to take a look at his son. they looked so incredibly ill he wondered how far gone were they and if he had made it time for the cure to work.

"Sammy, Sammy" Tom said he placed a hand on Sammy's chest and felt the unsteady thud of his son's heartbeat. He looked so incredibly small and fragile as he laid on the cot. He barely gave a whimper which gave him little comfort.

"Daddy, Daddy We're sick." Ashley told him, Tom nodded as he clearly could see that.

"I know, baby.I know." Tom said as he moved back slightly pulled the small case from his pocket and placed it on the bed. "Daddy's gonna make it better, okay?" he assured them as he couldn't stop his hands from shaking as he fumbled getting the zipper open. He wasn't one to get the shakes during combat but right now in this critical moment he couldn't settle his nerves.

"Where's Mommy?" he asked the kids distracting himself as much as he kid. Hoping they would tell him where Darien was, that hopefully she was nearby; that the deadening feeling in his gut and the way his father kept saying his name in that tone he reserved for bad news was nothing. It was just that his father was sick and Tom's gut feeling was him overreacting.

"Tommy" His father said but Tom barely spared him a look as he needed to save them first which meant giving them the cure. He managed to open the case and slip out one of the prepared syringes glad that Rachel had had the foresight to size up the doses ready for him as he wasn't sure he would have been able to pull the cure in accurate doses.

"Where's your mother?" Tom asked, he looked around to find her and to see if anyone was watching them as he lifted up Ashely's sleeve and injected her with cure; she cried from the jab of the needle. It hurt him to cause her pain but he reminded himself it was to save her.

"Tommy" his father said it was the first time Tom turned to acknowledge his father's presence just for a moment as he couldn't stand seeing his father look so broken and defeated. His father was always so strong and invincible; Tom had never even seen him sick before now. But it wasn't that, it was the expression on his father's face of heart wrenching anguish.

Tom swallowed or at least tried to swallow the lump in his throat as hot tears burned his eyes. He couldn't, no he didn't want to read into it. He didn't want even want to think about why his father would look so anguished. It was incredibly unbearable to see the expression that he had to look away as he didn't want to hear what his father was trying to say. Not yet, he just needed to give them the cure and everything would be fine.

"Dad, why didn't you wait for me?" Tom asked as he pulled the second syringe out of the case and moved closer to his son. He lifted up his son's sleeve and took a shaky breath as he could feel the control on his emotions slipping. He felt ready to fall apart but he couldn't, he had to hold it together.

"Sam, a little pinch. A little pinch. This is gonna make you feel better." Tom assured his son as he injected the cure into his son. Sam whimpered from the pain but remained prone on the bed. Tom felt his father's hand on his shoulder trying to get his attention.

"Tommy" his father said again. His father said his name with that tone, that same expression on his face when he told him that Mom had died.

"Where is she?" Tom asked wishing he didn't have to ask, wishing she was right here with them because as he saw the tears silently roll down his father's face. The silent look his father gave him that just said it all.

"Son, I'm sorry." Jed told him, Tom placed the syringe on the bed; he didn't want to hear apologies. He wanted answers; anger surged in him as he grabbed the collar of his father's shirt. Tom understood what he was saying but at the same time couldn't comprehend it. He was here, in Baltimore, he had a cure and he just needed to find Darien and cure her. His mind told him everything would be fine yet his father was apologising.

"Dad, where's Darien?!" Tom demanded, his grip tightening on the fabric. His father gripped him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.

"She's gone, son." His father told him in a serious tone so there was no mistaking what he was saying. Gone; a word that had so many connotations and today it ripped Tom's world apart as he was too late. He shook his head not wanting to believe it. He had ignored the blatant signs telling him she was dead as he didn't want to believe it. His logical side knew the truth but he still couldn't accept it, a small part of him kept thinking there was time.

"She's gone. I tried to do everything I could to save her." His father said, Tom dropped his head down as he couldn't hold his emotions in check. Tears ran down his face as he was at a loss for words. His father brought a hand to the back of his neck holding him there in the closest thing to a hug as they had had in over two decades. Tom allowed himself the comfort to momentarily grieve his loss as the tears silently ran down his face.

"I tried." His father told him in a hushed voice. "I tried." He assured Tom.

Tom stayed there for a moment as he pulled himself together. He chastised himself for his grief as right now was not the time or place. People needed him to be level headed, his family needed him to be strong especially his kids. His grief would take second place with that in mind; he reigned in his emotions pushed away from his father. He swiped a hand over his face to wipe the tears away before he gave his father a reassuring expression.

"I know you did, Pop" Tom assured his father as he could see the grief and guilt tearing his father to pieces. "I know you did." Tom repeated, he picked up the syringe and looked to his father.

"But right now I gotta give you this." He told him as he pushed up his father sleeve and pushed the needle into his father's arm and injected him with the cure. His throat constricted at the pain of vainly trying to contain his grief. He heard his children crying and turned to them and pulled them into an embrace allowing them a moment to acknowledge the loss as they still needed to get out of here.

* * *

Back on the ship,

Kate had no idea how much time had passed as she had dozed off to sleep but when she woke up she found it was long enough for the drugs they had given her to wear off. Something that one would think was great but given she was crammed into a tiny box with little to no wiggle room and her head was bent at an uncomfortable angle but the reality was she wasn't Houdini. She had no space and with her hand behind her back, she had nothing, no ideas and the air holes in the box weren't bringing in much cold air. So she was sweating in a very unladylike fashion and her body was in agony between overstretched muscles and pins and needles from parts of her body that had poor circulation due to her 'incarceration'.

Either way she on the fast track to a very bad mood and the only ideas she was having was of cold showers after kicking Norris and buddies asses. All of which required her to get out of the box first.

She listened for a while and heard no sounds of movement or life outside the box except the noise of the ventilation system and the ships engines that kept it running. She wondered if it would be a waste of time to scream for help but decided if on the off chance someone was walking by they might hear her. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath in or as much of one as she could given her limited space and began to yelling at the top of her lungs. Someone would have to hear her. _Right?..._ Kate thought to herself.

* * *

On the bridge,

Mike stood with Lt Forster and Tophet talking about the logistics of when they would make port. With majority of their senior staff off the ship it was up to Mike and Forster to organise the port call and distribution of work and orders.

"You stack the cases by the hangar door, we'll put 'em on a pallet and unload 'em dockside as soon as we make port. I'm not sure exactly when that's gonna be-" Mike paused mid sentence as he caught Lt Norris sauntering onto the bridge.

"Oh, hey, Norris, answer a question for us if you could. is there-" Mike started to ask his question when Lt Norris pulled his sidearm and shot the pilot. Blood sprayed across the back wall as the crewman dropped to the floor presumably dead. Everyone on the bridge threw their hands up in surrender due to the shock of what happened.  
"Hey!" Norris shouted to get their attention.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Mike said as if it would calm the shocked crew who were all fighting their natural instincts to run.

"Commander." Norris said in stern tone. The jovial man Mike had met only a few hours ago was gone. "Commander!" Norris shouted, Mike looked to him "I want you to get on the horn and give the order to drop anchor. You muster your entire crew on the flight deck and you open up the door to the helo bay where you're storing the cure." Norris ordered him, Mike narrowed his eyes at the man. Irrational anger surged through him as he felt betrayed and insulted by being told what to do by a man who was supposed to be their ally. A man who had just killed one of his crew and he had a nerve to make demands.  
"I'm not giving you a goddamn thing, you son of a bitch." Mike said as his hands itched to tear him to shreds but there were too many people on the bridge and he couldn't risk losing another member. He needed to get closer to disarm the man.  
"I don't know what your plan is here, but this is my ship!" Mike shouted at him.

"You'll do exactly what I say, or I'll pick off your entire crew one-by-one." Norris said speaking over his words which only angered Mike further as he had just been made a fool by some Podunk cop.  
"My troopers are everywhere. This ship is mine now." Norris told him, Mike wanted to scoff that a small group of cops against 200 trained soldiers was a no brainer. His people would win out.  
"Please, he needs help" Lt Foster said stepping forward but Mike and Tophet were for once of one mind as they stepped forward pushing her behind them. The woman seemed to have no self preservation for her unborn child.  
"Hey" Norris said talking over forster as Gator had started to take a step back. Mike was sure the man was in shock and the movement was involuntary but it set Norris off as he moved his gun.

"Call Doc Rios!" Forster pleaded but Norris had no interest in saving Tophet. The man was a civilian and thus useless or so Mike believed was Norris reasoning as he could only assume he shot the pilot for shock value and because he was the closest sailor to him. He would have had an opening to take him down.

"Nobody moves!" Norris told them all as he kept his gun raised. Mike stepped forward and started shouting at Norris to drop his weapon and surrender but Norris seemed to think he was as he shouted back warning them not to move. That he would shoot but given that Mike had already managed two steps without being shot meant Norris wasn't good for his word. He threw in antagonising remarks, goading the man as it was distracting him.

"Nobody moves!" Norris shouted back at Mike yet his finger hadn't pulled the trigger. Mike wondered why the man hadn't shot him yet.

"Put down that weapon! Everyone heard that gunshot. They're gonna come running." Mike shouted at him as he took another step again.

"You don't think I'll do it, X.O.?!" Norris asked him, Mike knew he was posturing Norris needed the crew and him to run the ship. He couldn't afford to kill any of them. At least it was a chance he was willing to take.

"Put down that weapon!" Mike shouted at him.

"You think I won't do it, X.O.? Just try me!" Norris goaded him, but before Mike could try Tophet went at the man. Something Mike hadn't even expected from the man but ultimately foolish as Norris stepped back and shot him in the stomach.

Tophet cried out in pain as he dropped to his knees and fell on to his back clutching his wound. Mike looked to Norris who was now further out of his grasp than before and holding his gun looking sickeningly victorious.

"I'm not gonna tell you again, Commander. Muster your crew." Norris told him.

* * *

On the Mainland in Olympia Stadium,

Anna hated wearing the gas mask but it was the only thing saving her from being recaptured given she was deep in Granderson's territory and there was a nice reward on her head for her capture. She moved around the Olympia Stadium at a slow pace. She didn't have to pretend she was ill as she was. She was dehydrated, exhausted and light-headed from a lack of food.

She walked among the sick trying to find the Captain. Her memory was running a little fuzzy on what he looked like but she figured he'd be the healthy looking one not wearing Hazmat suit. She just hoped she hadn't missed him. She had tried the lower levels where they logged and tagged the fresh cases. Those who were more in a more progressed stage of the virus were taken to a separate area to euthanize them before being transported to the coal fired plant.

She looked around at the people around her feeling her skin crawl as they were just a fuel source to Granderson. She just wanted to yell at these people that Olympia stadium was a death camp. There was no cure, no treatment. But they were already dead before they came here. As soon as they contracted the virus it was just a matter of days. It was just disgusting that they wouldn't be treated with the dignity and respect a living being deserved after they died.

In her perusal of the area she spotted a group of people. Three men and presumably children but it was hard to see as they were quickly cutting across the crowd going the wrong direction. At the head she spotted an African American man look back in her direction, there was something familiar about his face that made her curious enough to follow.

She quickly cut through the same crowd and saw the plastic partition used to separate the mildly sick from the dead. She followed and doubled check she was being followed before she disappeared behind the plastic partition.

* * *

At Avocet building,

Rachel was shown down a long hallway to an office with double doors by two troopers. One of them opened the door and Rachel walked into the large space taking in the troopers standing guard in the large and spacious office. The room was decorated with furniture, sculptures and artwork that Rachel could only imagine would normally have cost a fortune. But the décor wasn't what was bothering her, it was the issue of the treatment protocols they were using for the sick and the fact she had been held in a room for over four hours under guard to see Mrs Granderson. Rachel had had a lot of time to think of all the angles on the situations and each time she came out feeling like she had lost.

"Doctor." Mrs Granderson said in greeting to Rachel as she injected herself with the cure. Rachel and the Nathan James' hardwork and sacrifice; all of it squandered in Rachel's opinion on people who were murderers.

"My troopers say they experienced no side effects from the cure. It's amazing what you've created." Mrs Granderson said to her, her warm motherly tone that imbued comfort and strength now felt unsettling and calculated.

"I wish I could say the same in return." Rachel said somewhat scathingly as she couldn't believe the world she had returned to.

"I understand you have some questions about the way we've been treating the sick." Mrs Granderson said as she sat back in her chair and looked to Rachel.

"What you are giving the sick is anything but a treatment Of that I am sure." Rachel told her.

"Doctor You know this. In the 14th century, the Black Death wiped out 60% of the European population.  
The plague killed indiscriminately The artists, scientists, thinkers, so few and precious to begin with, were wiped out. It upended the social order and prolonged the dark ages 150 years. I cannot let that happen here." Mrs Granderson told her, Rachel couldn't believe what the woman was saying.

Mrs Granderson made it sound like God had come down and placed this martyrdom onto her shoulders to save the world. The woman made it sound like Genocide was an acceptable and necessary evil to meet her goals. Rachel remained silent completely speechless as Mrs Granderson continued to give her a well practised speech.

"I understand your allegiance to your friends. You've gone through so much together. But you've seen nothing of the chaos here at home. The hysteria, the cruelty, the savagery." Granderson said, Rachel was tempted to make a snide remark that the woman was the pot calling the kettle black given she knowingly orchestrated god knew how many atrocities.

"You must try to see the situation from our point of view. There are people out there who would use this crisis to take what does not belong to them. They are the barbarians at the gate who would send us into a new dark age. We have the power to stop them, to keep them in their place. It is my duty to help the right people first, the people whose survival will ensure the future of our entire society and all that we hold dear." Granderson said gravely, she completely believed her words and Rachel could understand how the woman kept an army and all the people who worked for her in line as she was compelling even if her morals were lacking.

"So you gather your elite few within these walls and the rest What happens to them?" Rachel asked disgusted at Mrs Granderson and ultimately disappointed in herself for being wooed and fooled by the dream Mrs Granderson's world encapsulated.

"The virus doesn't discriminate. That unfortunate task falls to me." Mrs Granderson said and Rachel's heart fell into her stomach as her hopes to cure the sick no matter their socio economic background, level of education or intelligence were destroyed.

* * *

Olympia Stadium,

"Relax, I'm a friend of Kate's. My name is Anna Hatake" Anna told Burk who had his weapon trained on the woman. He wondered if she was mad walking into a hot zone like Olympia without a mask. She didn't look sick as she held up her hands in surrender. He and the Captain had found his family. They were 'cured' yet obviously there was a recovery period from their illness as the kids and the Captain's old man were moving slowly. Something that was going to cause problems as they needed to get out of Olympia before Granderson's people caught up with.

They had left the main arena and ended up in some sort of back area when the Captain stopped to look into room. Thus leaving Burk to keep an eye out for trouble and here it was in the form of a 5ft7 euroasian woman with light brown skin, medium length brown hair and whisky coloured eyes. She was dressed in skinny jeans, combat boots and a heavy winter coat. When she had raised her arms in surrender he saw she had on a kevlar vest.

"Kate?" Burk asked playing dumb but he just needed to be sure given anyone could fake a friendship and a thick Australian accent which he had to admit sounded pretty convincing even though it was weird coming from her mouth. He stepped forward placing himself in front of Captain's father who was keeping the kids behind him. Burk didn't blame him, the woman looked completely healthy standing in a hot zone with no protection not even a mask. There was an air about her that bespoke of a military background.

"Australian redhead, 5ft 8' with a whole lot of attitude and foul language spewing from her mouth. She served in the Australian Army for over a decade before marrying that asshole Lassiter. Her maiden name is Gentry. Any of this ringing any bells" Anna offered. Burk looked her over sizing her up for the longest moment.

"If you are her friend then you'd know who the best man at her wedding was" Burk stated.

"Tex Nolan, ex special forces went private sector, he's a flirtatious bastard from Reno not Texas like everyone assumes because of his name." She said without hesitation. Burk relented and lowered his weapon slightly. He didn't know about the Reno thing but she was so confident in her answers that he believed her. That and she hadn't made any move to get close to him. The distance gave him opportunity to shoot her if necessary and meant she wasn't trying to disarm him yet.

"How did you find us and what are you doing here?" he asked her, not ready to completely trust her.

"I heard your Captain on the radio, his father saying he was going to Olympia. So here I am. Why am I here? I'm trying to get in contact with Kate. You got a radio?" Anna asked him, she still hadn't moved an inch towards the group as she felt it was easier to keep her distance. She noted the older man and two kids behind Burk, they were infected and the kids looked petrified. So she kept her distance as she didn't want them to be startled any more than they were.

"Yeah, but our comms are being jammed by Thorwald" Burk told her.

"No they aren't. Granderson has been jamming majority of the airwaves since your arrival. She's not a shining beacon of hope like you wanted to believe. She's just another tin pot dictator trying to keep a foothold on her slice of this city until the virus kills off her enemies. You and your ship have sailed rather blindly into one shitstorm my friend" Anna informed him. Burk looked dismayed and angry at the same time by the news. She didn't blame him. It was a lot to swallow.

"Look, you have no reason to trust me-" Anna started but she stopped as she heard the plastic partition behind her open. She turned on her feet and saw two soldiers in full hazmat come out. They immediately recognised as they lifted their weapons in her direction.

"Stop where you are!" one of the shouted, Anna didn't acquiesce to the request as she turned around and let the baton in her sleeve drop into her hand. She pressed the release button and extended out the baton with a flick of her wrist as she ran at the soldiers.

Anna threw the first strike and within two moves had one man down she turned to take care of the second when two shots sounded in the air. The soldier she was about to attack dropped to the ground with two bullets to the back. Anna looked to Burk and wanted to shout at him for the stupid and reckless move but it was too late as an alarm sounded.

"We have to get out of here" Anna informed him, just before a security alert sounded thanks to everyone hearing the gunshots but she couldn't allow any of the soldiers to know she was here. By the sounds coming from the other room, Anna was sure the Captain was losing his head.

"_Security breach in Section Twelve" _Sounded over the P.A_._

"Now!" Anna prompted Burk.

* * *

On the ship,

"Unbelievable" Kate muttered as her voice was raw from the shouting and screaming. Apparently 'Help', 'fire', 'Man overboard' did not garner anyone's attention. Something she was definitely going to inform the Captain and Mike about if she ever got out of the damn box.

She couldn't believe no one had heard her given she heard the P.A. announcement for everyone to report to the flight deck. She had to have been shouting for hours before the call and even more so after.

_Why isn't anyone coming?... _she thought trying not to give into the panic of being stuffed into a plywood box for so many hours but failing miserably as tears ran down her face. She had been fine with the idea when it felt like she was going to get out of it but right now she thoroughly felt trapped and completely alone.

* * *

On the bridge,

"_Do you read me?_" Tom's voice played over the line, it was the first time Mike had heard a call from Tom in hours and yet he couldn't answer as Norris had his gun pointed at him. It was a shame the man wasn't seven steps closer as Mike would have broken his nose and disarmed him within second.

But it was no use wishing and Mike knew he would be shot if he tried to disarm him. Tophet gave a sickly gurgle and groan of pain that served as a reminder of the first failed attempt to disarm Lt Norris.

"_Nathan James, come in. Do you read me? Nathan James, this is the Captain. Come in._" Tom's voice said over the air waves.

* * *

Avocet building,

"I know it's hard to understand. You've been away so long" Mrs Granderson told her as she turned on a lamp to give the room more light. "But in time, Rachel, you'll see it's the only way." she assured her. But Rachel would never be convinced it was the 'only way' nor would she assist the woman with her endeavours. It would go against her personal ethos and when history was written she knew how she wanted to be remembered and it was not going to be a part of Granderson's legacy.

It made Rachel sick to her stomach as Mrs Granderson explained her plans for the future how she could use her assistance in creating a utopian future. She apparently came under the heading of the elite. She was disgusted by those she respected and worked with over the years being wooed by Mrs Granderson's offer or protection and well equipped laboratories. It made her question all the research she had read and the human volunteers who died further scientific knowledge of the human body. This woman was running an american version of Unit 731 and offering Rachel a job.

She was about to tell Mrs Granderson where she could cram her job offer when the doors to the office opened. Rachel looked over her shoulder and saw Lt Granderson being restrained by two troopers as she was forced into the room.

"She was trying to run." Lt Landau told Mrs Granderson as she yanked viciously on Lt Granderson to keep her in place the young woman looked to Rachel with wide innocent eyes.

"I swear I had no idea this was happening." Lt Granderson told Rachel in a pleading manner, pleading for Rachel to believe her. "I swear - " she began.

"Hush, dear." Mrs Granderson said in chastising manner to her daughter. Lt Granderson went quiet, Rachel looked at her feeling for her as she could only imagine how devasted she was to find her mother was not the woman she believed her to be.

"You can't replicate my work with the doses that I've given you. Everything that you need is locked up on that ship." Rachel told Mrs Granderson as she tried to reign in her anger and keep her tone even. She held back her threats as she knew it was best to hold her cards close to her chest than leave herself open. Though she wasn't sure if it was already too late for that.

"And the Captain will never give it up." Lt Granderson told her with conviction. It was the only positive part of this situation as it meant Mrs Granderson had lost at least this battle. Or so Rachel thought because when she looked at the older woman she saw a smug smile play on her lips.

"Let me worry about the Captain" Mrs Granderson told them, there was something about the way she said it that made Rachel fear for not just her life but for those on the Nathan James and Tom.

* * *

Just outside the Olympia stadium,

"Do you read me? Nathan James, where are you?" Tom said as he watched the trucks drive off with the dead taking them to the coal factory to burn for electricity. He couldn't believe the horror he'd walked into, Mrs Granderson was supposed to be their Ally and yet everything he believed her to be was just a cleverly crafted image.

"Your ship has been taken by Granderson. Can we please get out here before we're captured?" Anna asked, "I promise I will tell you everything but we have to go now" she added impatiently.

"And why should I trust you?" Tom snapped at her, he'd lost his wife, his ship and god knew who else in a matter of hours. This woman stood behind them seemingly in a rush had the nerve to tell him what to do.

"Anna, my name is Anna Hatake and I'm a friend of Kate's. The only Australian Helo pilot on your ship, I'm amazed you don't recognise me from Rota but then it's been 5 years and I cut my hair recently" Anna told him wryly.

"Rota?" He asked, he didn't recognise her at all. But he could believe she was Kate's friend from the amount of sass she was giving him but just to be on the safe side he asked her about Rota because he wanted to test her and she knew it as she gave an aggravated sigh.

"Yeah your friend Mike Slattery hooked up with Kate. They had a great time for about a year until he went back to his wife and kids. Apparently it was amicable break up though I still can't stand the taste of tequila thanks to their unrequited love. Now have I passed your test?" she asked snidely.

Tom looked to Burk who was looking rather shocked by the tidbit of news about Mike and Kate. Yeah, the crew knew the Kate an Mike were sharing quarters but held onto the fact that Mike was too much of a square to be an adulterer. But Burk was just informed otherwise and obviously the woman convinced his Lieutenant that she was trust worthy and she managed to navigate them out of the stadium to relative safety but right now Tom had trust issues. Thanks to Mrs Granderson it was hard to know who to trust especially one claiming to be Kate's friend.

"Daddy, we have to go" Ashley said tugging on his arm. Tom looked down at his daughter, he saw the fear in her eyes as she wanted to get out of here. He didn't blame her, he was sure she and Sam would have nightmares for a long time. He had to get to them to safety yet he had no clue where to take them. He looked to Anna.

"Kate is my only family in this world. Do you think I'd put you in danger when you're my only means to get to her?" she asked him, he heard the sincerity in her words and there was something about her expression that he recognised. He knew it because he'd seen it in the mirror every day, the gut wrenching need to find her loved one. That one being Kate of all people but for some strange reason that was what made him trust her the most in that moment.

"Which way do we go?" he asked her.


	57. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

* * *

Kate woke with a jolt and immediately groaned in pain as she felt like she had woken up from her Hen's party again. Her head pounded viciously like her brain was trying to dig holes out of her skull with spoons. Her mouth was dry and tasted vaguely like her last meal. Nausea rolled within her telling her to not think too deeply about that. _Her body... Nope, not assessing it..._ Kate thought painfully as it was just too much. She blew out a breath and slowly opened her eyes, the only positive to come out of it was that she was laying down flat. Her brain murkily reminded her the last time she had been concious was on the ship inside of a box until she had been shot by a tranq dart. She remembered being vaguely insulted at the mistreatment before passing out. At least she was out of the box but she wasn't sure if that was an improvement.

Now she was in a new place which meant probably more new problems. She took a fortifying breath and lifted her head muffling a groan of pain as she took in her surroundings. She looked to be in some kind of operating room given there was medical equipment everywhere lining walls one which had two heavy metal doors she had only ever seen on TV in prison shows and two large windows. It was enough for Kate to surmise that they were cells as she could see the cots and Rachel pacing in the room closest to the main door into the one of the rooms.

She tried to call out to Rachel but she couldn't get her voice to work. She felt panic rise within her as she needed to tell Rachel she was here. She needed to ask questions like where were they? and why was she restrained to a bed?. She tried to shout again but her vocal cords wouldn't make a peep and Rachel seemed completely oblivious as Kate watched her sit down on the cot and drop her head in her hands. Rachel raked her fingers through her hair in clear frustration.

Kate just wished she knew what was going on. She pulled on the restraints, her thoughts her simple. she figured maybe if she could get herself free then she could get to Rachel and get them out of here. She felt renewed with energy as her mind blocked out the pain. She had a purpose and now had to fulfil it. The only problem was that she found the restraints unforgiving as the leather cut into her skin yet she could see the leather was worn. The stitching on the right hand cuff was loose like they had been worn down by their previous owners. Feeling a small sense of hope she tugged on it harder. She swore she could feel the material stretching

But before Kate could try to another hard yank, she heard footsteps coming towards her. She quickly relaxed onto the bed and tried to even out her breathing to mimic sleep. It was lucky she wasn't on a heart monitor as her heart was pounding at a fast pace. A dead giveaway she was awake.

"As you can see she's in very good shape physically speaking. Would you like us to harvest her-" A man started to say but he was cut off.

"No, I want to restart the Genesis Project Immediately. She will provide the materials for the control group and put Dr Scott in the experimental group" Mrs Granderson's voice said, Kate could hear the click clack of her high heels on the tiled floor as she moved closer. Kate kept her eyes closed and focussed on her breathing like she did when she was doing Yoga. Though her mind was fractured with thoughts of 'what the hell is the Genesis Project?' and what they were going to do her and Rachel.

"We haven't had much success with experimental group. Do you really want to risk her life? Given her age group tend to have more complications resulting in death" The man commented. Kate felt a hand gently touch the side of her face and hoped she didn't flinch too noticeably as she covered it with a slight turn of her head before faking that she was resettling back into her 'slumber'.

"Dr Scott has brought us a cure and she refuses to help us further. So we have to re-purpose her until she realises her future is firmly intertwined with ours. That for the sake of her future it would be better for to comply. Just as I know my daughter will come to understand that while my methods may appear uncaring they do come from a place of love" Granderson said, her voice so close that it told her that Granderson was right in Kate's face. The woman was talking crazy as Kate had no clue what she was talking about but given what had happened; Kate knew it wasn't going to be fun.

"Ma'am, I'm just afraid that we only have one test subject. For the Genesis project-"

"You said that both treatments could be performed simultaneously" Mrs Granderson said, Kate would here the slight anger in her tone.

"They can be but I also told you it carries an incredibly high risk of failure and the results-"

"Let's not count our chickens until they've hatched. I spoke with Dr Milowsky, he told me that she's genetically different from the previous experiments. He believes he can apply the previous study's research and make her body more pliable to the treatments without too much wear and tear on her systems" Granderson told him in a soothing manner as she gently caressed Kate's hair like a mother would a sleeping child.

Kate tried to keep her face serene like she was asleep but it was hard to so with the woman stroking her face and talking about like they had plans to carve her open like a thanksgiving turkey.

"I'll confer with him before I proceed" The man said, Kate could hear the nervousness in his tone.

"You do that, and remember to keep her heavily sedated. We don't need another incident like what happened with Anna and the others. She's too precious to lose" Granderson said, Kate felt the hand leave her hair and then the sounds of Granderson's high heels as she walked away.

"Yes, Ma'am" he said, the sound of a door opening and then closing sounded. Kate laid there for a few more moments. She heard shuffling in the room but as tempted as she cracked an eye open and saw a tall lanky man in a white coat ready a syringe. Kate slid her right hand over the side of the bed and gripped the strap that connected the cuff to the bed and gave it a firm tug. Sadly it didn't snap but it definitely got the man's attention as he rushed over and injected her IV line. She saw the fear in his eyes as he moved away from the bed putting as much space between himself and her.

She wondered why she of all people would make him fear his life given she was completely restrained to a bed but she never got to complete her assessment as the drugs he injected her with dragged her into a stupor before making her pass out.

* * *

_**A/N: I want to thank you all for taking the time to read and an extra thank you! to those who took the time to review. I really appreciate it as the reviews really helped me keep focussed and motivated especially when I needed a kick up the tush! **_

_**There will be a continuation of the story. I don't know where it's going yet... I'm undecided on whether to go completely AU or adapt it into season 2. (I'm thinking the former might be more likely) So I'll post it up when I have a few chapters :-) **_

_**Hope you all enjoyed my story and catch you all in the future!**_


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